Skyfall
by Loverofallfiction
Summary: Claire Redfield lost everything in Raccoon City. In order to protect Sherry, she joins forces with the government in order to bring down Umbrella and Wesker.AU (Wesker /Claire Chris/Jill ) Fixed double post : redone chap 1-3; Edited: Chapter 4-5. Book 1 begins and chapter 6 now posted!
1. Prequel: Arrival

Hi all if you read this and it sounds familiar it is not because it was plagiarized. My other name was estrella skies until someone decided to have fun with my account and delete my original story called Insaitable.

I wanted to get this out there but I am in grad school now.I'll try and update this. Hopefully, I'll get this story done in a year from now if I get enough support. Thank you all who supported my original story.

The story will involve: Re 0,1,2 outbreak, 3,4 UC 1&2 , revelations, Degeneration, 5,and 6. They will have elements weaved together.

**Although reviewing is not a requirement, constructive Criticism Reviews (both anonymous and signed) are accepted and encouraged. **

**This chapter begins the prequel. Wesker will appear out of character a little bit until chapter 5,but will remain in character throughout the rest of the story. Claire will be a little out of character until chapter 8. I wanted events in the story to shape her personality to what fans are familiar with. She is still a teenager so she is a little naive. The first 5 chapters are the prequel,it will appear silly or dull and may not make sense this is intentional . I promise if you give this story a chance then the future chapters won't disappoint.**

**Some scenes will appear disjointed because in some chapters it switches between the past and present.**

**Parts of Chapter 5 will be the only first person chapter. **

**I do not own RE nor the profile picture by Iam Rinoa heartily and this story is AU**

**Chapter 1 Reedit: Not First Person Anymore because it did not work. In addition, I fixed a lot of stuff I did not like.**

* * *

Prelude: Before the Fall

July 19, 2001

Claire was bored. In the three hours of sitting in the lobby of the National Security Office ,her only source of entertainment was watching the receptionist half hazardly apply makeup using a small pocket mirror. The receptionist scowled when her mascara was a centimeter off and took her makeup off again. At this point, Claire felt like pulling her hair out wishing the receptionist considered going to the bathroom, because the monotony of the room was making her more nervous.

Her life until this point had been a mess. She never fully appreciated her teenage years and she wished she spent more time with Chris. She had seen things that no person her age should see. She had seen the dead come back to life and seen people mutate in front of her eyes from viruses.

"Ms. Redfield you can come on back."

"Thank goodness!" Claire almost exclaimed too loudly. The attendant's voice was a welcome change to the room's silence. She was walking closely behind the bespeckled man not at all attempting to hide her nervousness that was coming back with a passion.

She was brought into a dark office with closed blinds. The only source of sunlight was breaking through the slits of the blinds. A chair occupied the front of a huge oak desk. This room reminded her of the dark film development room of the Raccoon City Police Department.

"Thank you, Daniel. That will be all. Ms. Redfield, if you don't mind having a seat. " As Daniel was leaving, her head turned to the source of the voice. At the far end of the huge office was a tall man staring out the blinds of the window with his hands behind his back, but she could not discern his other features. His posture reminded her a lot like Wesker with his air of confidence. Just thinking about Wesker made her upset because he was too good to be true. She gave her heart to that bastard just to literally get stabbed in the chest.

Chris told her to stay away from Wesker, but she was too foolish to listen.

"Ms . Redfield,the man began without introducing himself and revealed his arrogance. "I had Daniel contact you to come in today because you are requesting custody of Ms. Sherry Birkin, who currently is in the custody of the United States Government. How did you know Ms. Birkin survived Raccoon City if this was a classified secret, and what is your connection with Raccoon City?"

His tone sounded more like demand than a question. Claire was taken aback from this man's knowledge. How on earth did he find out she was involved with Raccoon city? Leon assured her that he got rid of all the information linking her to that city. She immediately became wary of this man. Speaking from experience, this man was probably working for someone else or stealing government secrets.

"What are you talking about? I never said anything about Raccoon City." The redhead gave a sigh a relief when her voice did not waver. She tried to be defensive because Leon told her to keep her connection to Raccoon City a secret to protect her own secret.

The man laughed darkly amused at her strategy. "You can't be coy on this matter, Ms. Redfield. The government had records that you were enrolled in Raccoon University, yet three months prior to the collapse you were in England. This cannot be a mere coincidence?"

What the hell was he playing at? Claire was not going to sit here and be a scapegoat for a corrupt company ,because the government loves to blame people to save their own skins.

"Are you suggesting that I had something to do with the outbreak? Maybe the government was involved with the outbreak because nuking a city will definitely keep things silent." Her temper started to flare and she could not help smiling when she saw the man tense clearly striking a nerve.

" Do you have no faith in your country that you wanted to destroy it?"

Claire rolled her eyes. The man's dramatic questioning made her feel as though she was listening to another greater good speech.

He was clearly bothered about something, and one thing she knew for sure was that nothing good would come out of today's meeting.

"Well, I am waiting for you to tell me your connection to Raccoon City. It is in your best interest to cooperate if you want to clear your name, or in the chance that you are innocent, walk away with Sherry." The man was clearly annoyed with the redhead's silence, and Claire decided to humor him if she was going to leave with Sherry.

"My story begins on December 19,1997."

* * *

Most of the people of Raccoon city were going about their normal Friday business. However, it was more busy than usual because some citizens were trying to get some last minute Christmas shopping done.

An unfortunate man was walking out of a toy store when he was noticed, "That man over there grabbed the last Nano Pet! Get him!"

A motorcyclist had just driven into the city and had to avoid the mob that was after the man. The biker lost control of the bike and fell into the snow covered pavement. A Japanese girl ran to the rider to access whether the paramedics were needed.

"Are you okay? I saw you fall?" The girl questioned while panting. The driver got off the ground and took off the snow covered helmet revealing a long red pony tail. She started brushing snow off her red "Made in Heaven" jacket .

"Yeah, I am. It's sort of busy today. Do people usually chase other people like that?" Her voice came out with a lot more humor than intended. Raccoon City is an interesting place if civilians chase each other randomly.

The girl gave an amused smile while answering."Apparently, this happens when an unfortunate person grabs the last toy and prevents other parents from completing their child's Christmas list. Forgive me, I am Yoko Suzuki."

The girl held out her hand for the redhead to shake. "Claire Redfield."

"So, Claire, what brings you here to the middle of nowhere?"

"I have finished moving here from Maine. I transferred to Raccoon University so I can be closer to my brother, but he does not know it yet." Claire answered with a sad smile.

She knew her brother wanted her to stay close to him since their parents died. This was perhaps the first time she had been to Raccoon City,since Chris moved here. Chris decided to forgo his college education in favor of joining the air force, but he was so adamant on making her go to college, without her having a say in the matter- the hypocrite.

Claire still remembered the conversation as if it had taken place just yesterday.

_Claire sat on the kitchen table eating a plain English muffin. She had just taken a bite when Chris smacked her on the back rather to roughly._

"_Morning sis!" _

_She responded by choking. The muffin went down the wrong pipe. She started hitting her chest to get the offending material out of the airway. She glared daggers at the cause of her discomfort._

_Chris feigned innocence and slammed a bunch of papers on the kitchen table._

"_What are these?" Claire questioned as she started perusing through the papers. Admissions office to George Washington…._

"_What do they look like?" Chris had an amused expression on his face. He was enjoying every bit of this display._

"_They are college applications. Why do I-" She looked at her brother in horror, when she realized what her sneaky brother was doing "You are making me apply to college!"_

"_Oh come on sis it is not going to be that bad" Chris passed her uneasiness off as if he was talking about the weather. One of the things she hated about Chris is that he passes of serious matters with jokes._

"_How would you know? You decided to join the wild blue yonder and do God knows what on airplanes! Plus, isn't it a little early to be thinking about this? I am only 17." She still had another year to not be responsible._

"_This is the last summer of your junior year. You are graduating from high school this year, which means some applications are due in December." Chris looked at his sister with a huge grin on his face before continuing. "Plus it would put my mind at ease knowing you would not be bored while I am at work."_

She was brought back to the present when she heard Yoko's excited voice, "You are going to Raccoon University? Me too! " There was something about Yoko which screamed loneliness.

After talking in the cold for an hour and taking many wrong turns ,Claire walked into the police department and stopped in the middle of the lobby. The beauty and the sheer size of it was enough to take one's breath away. The floor was very ornate and the colors of the tiles matched well to the paint. Clearly, the architect put a lot of care into the lobby's design. The only thing that was weird about the place was the fountain. There was a random hole near the base of it as if something fitted there. Deciding she was overthinking things she decided to make her way to the S.T.A.R.S office.

She had only made it a few feet from the entrance, when she realized that she had no idea where the S.T.A.R.S office was located. She was willing to bet she would get lost in here for days, if she did not get directions. Luckily, there were a group of guy cops who were only goofing off who could be asked for help.

"Excuse me." She said loud enough to not sound rude but enough to get the men's attention.

"So I pulled my gun out and –" The cops became annoyed because they were interrupted ,but some immediately perked up when they looked at Claire debating their chances with her.

"Hi, miss, how can I help you?" Marvin could not help but roll his eyes as some of the cops were glaring at him for stealing their thunder.

"I am looking for the S.T.A.R.S. office. I am visiting my brother for the Christmas holidays." Claire confessed.

Marvin smiled in reply to her statement. "Sure, I can show you." Before leaving, Marvin made sure that the cops had enough to do before he got back.

"This place is so big. I would have definitely gotten lost here." Claire decided to make conversation because she really hated silence. Loving to talk was a trait that her brother and herself shared.

"Even in the fifteen years that I have worked here, I still get lost in here sometimes." Marvin confessed ,as he nodded to his coworkers who passed by.

"It makes you wonder if the architect of this building did this on purpose?" She laughed at a mental image of a diabolical architect drawing a plan , which had angles of walls and rooms calculated so people could get lost.

Marvin chuckled and sighed as they reached the S.T.A.R.S office."Well, Miss, here is your stop. I hope you enjoy your visit. "

Claire smiled at him and as he was walking away, but she forgot her manners. "Hey wait!"

Marvin turned around confused at Claire's sudden change of behavior. "Yes?"

"I wanted to say thanks. I also wanted to ask you your name. Oh wait, where are my manners? My name is Claire." Chris might ask her how she was treated in the station,and so she might as well learn this guy's name.

"Nice to meet you, Claire. My name is Marvin."After the introduction, he walked away.

She looked at the office door that she was holding the door knob to and took a deep breath. _Well here goes nothing_.

* * *

"I hate this paperwork."Chris glared at the huge paperwork stack that he was supposed to get done hours ago. Right about now he was swearing in his head, that no matter how much he had done in the last hour, the stack got bigger. Chris had always been known to procrastinate. He even showed up late to pick up his ex-girlfreind for prom because he thought the Sega was a better date.

"You know. You would have gotten done with these hours ago, if you did not go with Barry to Kendo's to pick up his Magnum." The brunette sitting on her desk answered without looking away from the computer she was typing on.

Chris shut his eyes and waited three seconds. Chris did not want to lose his temper in front of Jill because he was raised to not raise his voice at a lady.

He comes up with a retort he thinks is good. "Very funny, Jill. I know you are looking out for me. I appreciate it because if I do not get this paperwork done, then Captain Wesker would probably keep me here until Christmas, preventing me from seeing my kid sister."

Jill smiled at his answer and side glance at his direction. It was clear Jill had feelings for Chris but she wanted Chris to ask her out.

"Hey, Fuck Face! I did not know you had a sister! When is she coming up?" A guy with a green vest jumped on Chris. As soon as he asked that question, a brunette man wearing a school bus colored yellow vest nodded.

"Forest,you are not getting near her. You already slept with all of the women on the first floor. There is no way I am letting you be near my sister." Forest may be Chris's friend but he was a dog when it came to women.

Forest frowned as he was perhaps thinking of all of the women he had slept with, "That's not true. I have not slept with Charlene."

"That's because she is as bad as you. She slept with all of the guys in the east wing. John said she gave him herpes." Chris countered.

The man in the yellow vest laughed a little too loudly and Forest glared at him. "Shut it, Vickers, and I have a little surprise for you today since you keep on telling me you are not a chicken shit."

Vickers timidly turned his head to the direction Forest was pointing and it was to the closed door of Wesker's office.

On the door was a piece of paper, which read **Suck it Wesker -01567.**

"Is that Brad's Id number?" Jill asked in disbelief.

"Yep, if Chickenheart Vickers wants any self preservation, then he has to remove it himself before Wesker notices. Forest answered smugly.

Brad appeared torn between doing nothing and pulling the paper off the door.

"Forest, why did you even transfer to this team?" Jill questioned as she saw that Brad was torn whether to protect his name or do nothing. How could Forest treat his colleague this way?

"Enrico said something about me not being a team player. Can you believe that?" Forest scoffed as he ruffled his hair.

Claire walked into the office pensively because she heard Chris raise his voice at one of his colleagues and she did not want to be meddling in her brother's business.

"Claire! When did you get here?" Chris was happy to see his little sister. He did not expect to see her until a few more days.

"Not long ago, actually. I wanted to surprise you-"

Chris grabbed her hands and was looking at her fingers. "Suprise? You are not married are you? If you are I am-"

Claire managed to pull back her hand and scoffed. "No, I am not married. I wanted to surprise you by coming today, instead of Sunday." Really, her brother was irrational because he was a man of action without thinking things through.

Chris, satisfied with her answer, gave a bear hug which was becoming rather uncomfortable. "Good! Sis, I am happy to see you."

"Chris, can't breathe!" As soon as he put her down on the floor, her eyes automatically searched the room for an AED. Chris was totally going to flip out and give himself a heart attack once she told him she traded her car in for a motorcycle . She might as well file a kidnapping charge because he would probably not let her out of her room,ever.

Forest walked up to Chris. "Now that it is confirmed that she is not married, maybe your beautiful sister can go on a date with me." Claire felt her cheeks burning after Forest called her beautiful, oblivious to his secret history with all of the women on the first floor. Forest was appearing smug while noticing her face. _I finally got her smitten by me. Time to go for the kill._

"No way!" Chris continued to protest, as Forest brushed past him.

It happened so fast. After Chris protested,Forest kissed her in the mouth. Everyone in the office gasped. The redhead wanted to keep her dignity so she slapped him pretty hard in the face, and Chris tackled him to the floor.

Barry walked in and noticed Chris on top of Forest and looked around in confusion "Did I miss something?"

"WHAT THE HELL?! FOREST, HOW DARE YOU KISS MY SISTER! The sight was pretty scary , and the people in the S.T.A.R.S office thought the Hulk was going to make a cameo appearance.

Barry grabs the girl in question by the arm and sticks her in the weapons cabinet. Before he closes the door, the girl could not help but protest while preventing the doors from closing with her arms. "What do you think you are doing?"

"Stay in here until the storm blows over."

She stared at Barry dumbfoundedly and he gave her a look that said "You will see."

Suddenly, the Captain's office door flew open, and a tall figure walked out of the office.

"What is with all of noise?" Wesker's eyes immediately honed on Chris. "Chris remove yourself of Mr. Speyer. If I was aware that you all wanted to have a shouting contest, then I would have scheduled you all to go into yard and yell out the numbers of pull-ups and pushups you can do." All of the S.T.A.R.S. members stared at their sunglasses-wearing captain in horror. He looked serious with his arms crossed and the slight frown on his face. This was definitely not a good sign. The S.T.A.R.S members made a mistake for underestimating him once, and as punishment, he had them run around the yard singing Barney until they passed out. Wesker was intimidating but his British accent was very suave to Claire.

Claire stifled a giggle for some stupid reason and Chris glared daggers in her direction. It was bad enough that his boss was humiliating him in front of her ,but she found it hard to support him at this moment. The situation was rather funny. She then frowned because he may get payback by tickling her until she begged for mercy.

"Why the hell do you keep looking at the weapon's cabinet. Do I have to make you take a day's off work to get you checked out for ADHD?" Wesker chided.

_What an ass_. She hated Wesker at that moment as much as this weapons cabinet she was in . She adjusted herself to get more comfortable, but then the door in front of her flew open causing her to lose her balance.

She closed her eyes to brace herself for the impact but her fall was surprisingly soft. She opened her eyes to see a pair of muscled toned arms holding her from the floor. Looking up, she saw her reflection staring back on a pair of sunglasses. Wesker adjusted her to put her back on the floor.

Forest whistled, "Ow Ow , it seems like Captain Wesker caught himself a girl and a pretty one at that. You should kiss her." Forest knew he was rubbing salt into Chris's and Wesker's ego.

"Watch what you say about my sister, Forest!" Chris's tone promised that he would finish murdering Forest.

"It is in your best interest to stop talking, Mr. Speyer, if you don't want to increase your night duty tonight to a week."

Forest stared at Wesker confused. "I don't have night duty tonight."

"You do now after that stunt you pulled." Wesker snapped back.

Chris decided to introduce his sister."Hey… Captain! Sorry, for the commotion. I was a little surprised that my sister came to visit me from college." Chris sort of gave an awkward smile, while nervously rubbing the back of his head before continuing his awkward excuse. "It is just that I have not seen her in a while. Well, anyways, this is my sister Claire. Claire this is my Captain, Albert Wesker"

Claire walked up to Wesker with a forced friendly smile. She knew that her brother respected this man. Guns, Jill and Wesker was all that Chris ever talked about. Chris needed to be treated better . Instead of shaking his hand , Claire was satisfied that his head turned to the side as soon as she slapped him.

The S.T.A.R.S member's mouths were open like a fish thinking the redhead was crazy for slapping their captain. They thought that all hell was going to break loose because Wesker did not take crap from no one.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Captain Wesker. Claire's voice was laced with fake honey. "Please, don't ever insult my brother's intelligence again. He is the only brother I have to take care of."

Wesker rubbed his face where the younger Redfield's hand made contact and she could see his jaw clenched trying to hold back his anger. "Well aren't you a feisty one, little girl."

_Did he just call me Little Girl? The Hell he did! _Claire started to fume at the insult and was going to give the captain a piece of her mind. Chris suspected that his sister was going to lose it . "Claire calm down." Chris did not need Wesker in a foul mood because he and his colleagues would pay the price.

Claire shifted uncomfortably as the blond was scrutinizing the younger Redfield. That arrogant smirk was irritating her to death and she wanted to claw his eyes out that were looking her over. _The pervert_.

"You all have better calm down and get your work done, if you don't want to work overtime." He looked at Chris who had a huge stack of papers on his desk. "Or even spend the rest of the winter holiday in this office."

Wesker looked back at Claire."Until next time, Dear heart." Claire glared daggers at him with his choice of pet name. He really thought of her as a little girl. He walked away with a smug look on his face and stopped in front of his office when he noticed the cartoon drawing of himself. He did a quick one eighty degree turn and beckoned Brad with his index finger.

The office was awkwardly silent, because the remaining S.T.A.R.S members were still recovering from their mental trauma. Forest decided he had enough of the silence and busted out laughing at Brad's predicament.

"Haha, I can't believe that shit actually got Brad in trouble." Forest had tears leaking from his eyes since he was laughing so hard.

"You know he is going to rat you out." Jill tried to get Forest out of his funk.

"The hell he will. We all know that Brad is too much of a chicken to do anything . Isn't that right Dear heart?" Claire looked at Forest with a confused look when she realized he was talking to her. "

"Sorry, did you say something?" Forest almost deadpanned at Claire's question and decided to change the question.

"Why did you not slap him? Was it because he called you a pretty name?" His question sounded like he was taunting her at the same time.

Claire started to fume and her face turned bright red . _"Who the hell did Forest think he is?"_

"Well, Forest for starters, he did not kiss her in the mouth. Also you have to admit Captain Wesker has a way with words. He could probably get away with anything except bashing, Chris." Jill gave Claire a smug smile, and the redhead felt small as all of the S.T.A.R.S members were looking at her.

Barry decided to have some fun, since he was Chris's friend . "Well, Chris, you have to watch your sister because apparently ,the Captain may be a potential suitor."

"Haha, very funny, Barry." Chris gave Barry a mock scowl. Claire laughed at the thought of any guy with her made her brother have the urge to pull out his Samurai Edge and blow them away to kingdom come. The look on his face was him trying to come to terms with the probability of his antisocial captain would have feelings for his sister. He looked at his Captain's office from his position and saw that the man was berating Brad in his office.

Chris decided he had enough excitement for the day and grabbed Claire's arm. "Hey, Jill, I am taking the rest of the day off!"

Jill looked at his desk piled high with paperwork with horror. "But what about-"

"No need. I'll come back and finish it later." Claire smiled at Jill. She could tell that something was there between Jill and Chris, but her brother could be a little slow sometimes. She made a mental note to joke with him later on about him going on a date with Jill.

"When you get done, call me later on so we can get a drink." Barry had a thumbs up at Chris to remind him to get a drink with him after work as they had every Friday ,since Chris worked in the office.

Chris looked sadly at his sister .She could tell Chris was feeling guilty that he already made plans with Barry .Now he had to turn his plans down because of her. She had been independent for a year and a half. Chris really needed to learn to stop babysitting her.

"Really, Chris, you should go with Barry. I won't be very talkative because I am a little tired of r-I mean driving here." She needed a diversion anyway to get Chris a Christmas gift.

"It's settled then!" Barry smacked Chris on the back in a friendly manner, while giving Claire a big smile.

"Yeah, I guess it is."Chris laughed as he sort of maneuvered his sister towards the office door.

"Chris, what do you think you are doing? I haven't said goodbye to anyone yet." She broke out of Chris commandeering grip and stepped forward. "It was a pleasure to meet you all" She had to add "and yes that includes you Forest." When I saw the look of dejection on his face, she realized she really did not have any hard feelings against him.

"Hey, Claire, how long are you staying?" Jill asked the younger Redfield before she could leave.

"I'll stay in Raccoon city until I finish college in three years." She did not know where Jill was going with this.

"Wait , are you really staying?" Chris sounded hopeful.

"I thought I made it clear, dufus."

" Perfect! Well, the New year's ball is the 31st of December." Jill continued, when she saw that Chris was going to trap his sister here for hours with his excitement.

"Oh come on! It will be fun! Me and you can go shopping on the 30th and then we all can go to the party the next day." Jill looked very excited as she thought about the upcoming festivities."

Claire had to suck in a breath. She really did not like balls because they were too formal and she could not wear jeans and a t-shirt. Still, she could not say no to the pleading look Jill had on her face. "Sure, I'll go." She tried to sound more excited than it came out, but Jill ran up to her as if she did not here the lack of excitement in her voice and hugged her.

The rest of the S.T.A.R.S. members said goodbye to the Redfields as they leaving. It must have been Claire's imagination, but she felt a pair of shaded eyes watching her and her brother leave.

* * *

Next: The Rest of the Week

Can you guess who is interviewing Claire? Yoko is from outbreak.

4,802 words later.

Thanks for reading and reviewing etc.

Let me know what you want to see and I'll take your suggestions into account.


	2. Prequel: First Night

This story will be very Au in terms when events take place and when things happen. I feel it adds to the drama in this story. I sort of suck at grammar in terms of commas and punctuation.

I don't own any of the characters of this fic.

******Although reviewing is not a requirement, constructive Criticism Reviews (both anonymous and signed) are accepted and encouraged. **

**Thanks again lovely readers for taking the time to read.**

* * *

My gift to my loyal readers is 3,910 words of goodness.

Claire had to admit that she could get used to living in Raccoon City ,since the grocery store was more reasonably priced than the ones in Maine. She could blame it on the snow threatening power outages. If she stayed here, she predicted that she would gain 5 pounds in the future from the low priced food.

"I see you have a great group of colleagues. I see why you never want to leave this place." Claire commented as Chris closed the door to the apartment. His fellow officers treated him like this reason, he always spoke highly of this town.

"Yeah, it never gets boring with that group." Chris said with pride and went into the kitchen to put some of the groceries away.

Claire walked further into Chris's apartment and put down the groceries that she was holding. Looking around, she saw a picture of Chris, herself, and their parents. It was one of the few pictures that they took together.

_Hm, Chris must have changed his lifestyle . That's a first. _Chris's apartment was surprisingly neat, almost too neat. She went into what she thought was the pantry to help put away groceries.

As soon as she put her hand on the doorknob ,she saw from the corner on her eye that Chris finally walked out of the kitchen holding two cans of sodas. He flinched when he saw her turning the knob to the door.

"No, Don't open that!" Chris's voice was laced with horror. Claire started to see sweat form on his brow.

Claire looked at him confusedly and opened the closet door anyway. Big mistake. Mountains of junk ,garbage, and God knows what came tumbling down her. The smell of rotten food and dirty clothes greeted her nose.

"O my God! Chris you are a pig!" _I take back what I said earlier about him changing his lifestyle. _

"I swear it was the invisible apartment leprechaun-" Chris tried to make the situation lighter.

"Don't you dare!" His sister hissed. He knew that she would not buy that excuse but he tried it anyway.

"Hehe. Sorry, sis. I meant to clean that later while you were sleeping." Chris's sheepish grin made him look nervous which did not help him look apologetic.

The redhead grit her teeth at him trying to reign her temper. "Where is the shower?" She made sure that her voice had a tone which meant quit kidding around.

Chris nervously cleared his throat and answered "Up the stairs to the right." Chris looked at the two sodas and put them in the counter, guessing that she would want one later, since his sister had to add another shower into her day.

Claire fumingly stomped up the stairs to try and wash off the junk that fell out of the closet.

* * *

December 19,1997 7: 15 pm

There was nothing interesting on t.v. as Claire flipped through many channels trying to satisfy her boredom. She landed on the news because they were advertizing the new Spice Girls' movie that was coming out in a couple of weeks.

"In other news Umbrella's stock has risen by 5%, with the introduction of Aqua cure-"

"I am going drinking with Barry. I trust you will behave while I am gone. "

Claire looked away from the news channel that she had left on for an hour to see what Chris wanted. It took her a while to register what he was trying to say.

"There is no rush. I mean, I have food and a t.v. So, I am pretty much all set here." She gave him a smile so he could hurry up and leave so she could get started on looking for his gift.

"Glad to hear it."

"Hey!" She yelled as Chris ruffled her hair that was in a ponytail. "Now I have to redo it." She pouted trying to make him feel guilty.

"Are you sure you don't need anything?" Chris gave Claire an uncertain look .

She knew that look. Chris was berating himself and over thinking things. As much as she loved Chris ,she wished that he would not worry about her happiness sometimes, because he was oblivious to other things that goes on around him like Jill basically trying to give him hints to ask her out.

"Yes, just have fun and don't hurry back on my account." She tried to give him a convincing smile hoping to make it back to the apartment before Chris got back.

Satisfied, Chris gave her one last look and walked out of the door.

As soon as she heard him pull out of the driveway, she grabbed her bag near the couch and her motorcycle keys. She walked out of the apartment door and her face was assaulted by the cold night air. She instinctively brought the collar of her jacket a little higher to her face and was glad to be wearing gloves.

Honestly, she did not know what to get Chris for Christmas. Every time she gave him a gift, he thought it was the most amazing thing in the world. She believed he was just saying that so it would not hurt her feelings.

Raccoon City was too quiet at night. There was no nightlife here which was boring. Maine, on the other hand, had a lot of things going on usually around this time. There would be lines of college students lining up to go to concerts. It seemed, that there was nothing to do here. She was having second thoughts about transferring here because she would be sentencing herself to boredom.

She had walked a couple of blocks when an obnoxious sign labeled Kendo's Gun Shop caught her eye. She could not help but grin deciding to buy Chris a gun, since he was trying to beat Barry in his gun collection. As soon as she walked into the store, the bell chimed alerting Robert Kendo to her presence.

The pudgy man smiled at the redhead. "Ah, a lovely customer. How can I help you?"

She looked up from the weapon display case she was browsing. "I am looking for a Christmas present for my brother Christopher Redfield."

As soon as she said Redfield, Kendo face grew into a wider smile. "I did not know he had a sister. He is always here with Barry Burton, one of my best customers. I have to sometimes scold them for getting a little too excited over some of the weapons, because they tend to get a little loud and make my customers nervous."

She laughed "Yeah that sounds like my brother all right. Fawning over weapons. You would not happen to have a gun that you have not sold to Barry yet? Preferably, something affordable, since I am on a college budget."

Kendo rubbed the bottom of his chin deep in thought. "Now that you mention it, we did get this new shipment of magnum a M293 but it's $500." He looked at her pensively, since it was a little pricey and debated to offer her something else cheaper.

"I'll take it!" Claire was planning on going all out this year for Chris planning to spend $700 . Now, she had an extra $200.

"Can I see your firearm license?"

"A what?". _What the hell is a gun license?_

"You don't have one do you?"Kendo frowned when he saw the look of confusion on her face.

"I did not know you needed one to buy a gun." She answered honestly. If she knew it was this complicated to buy a gun, she would have gone somewhere else and save herself the embarrassment.

"I do know Chris and I will make sure that he gets the gun, if I sell it to you. Let me see your driver's license for security sake." Satisfied he handed her back her license. "I'll throw in a free magazine on the house."

"Thank you!" The redhead grabbed the magazine and gun smiling stupidly as though it was a priceless treasure. Chris would not know what hit him.

"I hope that I'll see you again." As she was leaving, the Japanese American smiled at her.

Claire had covered 5 blocks and only had to go a few more to remove her bike from the police station. The persistent cold weather made her wish she purchased a car instead. The bike went very well with her rebellious image.

Hearing footsteps echoing loudly behind her, she took a sly quick glance over her shoulder and frowned. The same three people that were hanging near the block she passed decided to follow.

_Great this is what I need._ She groaned and quickened her pace, which caused the men to mirror her movements.

There was a narrow alley ahead, and since it was fairly dark they were trying to corner her. She had two options: run or confront these guys in the open, hoping that it would draw attention.

"Hey, pretty lady. What's your hurry?" A guy with greasy black hair sporting a black leather jacket, smiled sinisterly at her. This smug guy was perhaps the leader.

"Oh, I don't know trying to enjoy my walk and avoid creeps like you?" She said snarkily.

"Listen to this Bitch." A pudgy guy steps forward looking at his friends to emphasize his next point. I think we should treat her like a lady." He finishes craning his neck which causes his red jacket to lift up slightly as he was cracking his knuckles.

The younger Redfield was not going to sit here and get raped. Her survival instincts started to kick in fueling her with adrenaline. She lowered into a defensive stance that Chris taught her, but her joints were killing her because of this weather. One of the men was coming a little too close for comfort and she kneed him in the crotch. The man fell to the ground in pain . One man with green jacket ran at her and she quickly sprayed him with mace in the eye.

The man's eyes started to burn and he threw his hands out in the air clawing franticly, as if he was trying to grab her. "Wait until I get my hands on you, and then you are going to wish you had never done that." He threatened through clenched teeth in obvious pain.

She knew that she had a matter of seconds before the other two men recovered. Seeing an opening, she ran. As she was running, she pulled out the magnum intended for Chris and removed the safety, mentally thanking Chris for showing her how to fire a gun.

She noticed that one of the men sprinted in front of her blocking the path ahead and she skidded to a stop. She turned around to run in the opposite direction , but there was another guy blocking her. To her right there was a building, so the left was her only option. She started running to her left, until one of the men blocked the path. She was flanked.

She glared at the leader who was standing in front of her.

"Not so tough now are you missy?" The greasy haired man chuckled and started closing the distance between them while licking his lips. Trying hard to scare Claire with his dark intentions."Why don't we have some fun?" He stopped in midstep when he realized the gun she was holding was intended for him with it clocked back.

"Take one more step and I'll blow your brains out!" Claire threatened, wondering if this would count as self defense if she did shoot the bastard. If only she paid attention during her pre-law classes, she would not be contemplating her options and shoot the man.

"I bet the gun is not even loaded." The thug with the red jacket sneered pulling out a pocket knife.

She pointed the gun in the air and pulled the trigger, not wanting to risk going to jail. There was some serious recoil to the gun because she fell on the ground backwards. She was unable to get back up because the man who was behind her subdued her.

The greasy haired man was walking towards her. "You cannot run now." He twirled the knife in his hand and threw it up in the air and caught it. He gave her an evil smirk before continuing, " and let's have a little fun shall we?"

She broke out of her captor's grasp but the guy who was on her left had to end up holding her down as well. There was no way she could escape, and she was going to get cut open and worse raped . She prayed to God that someone had called the police.

The leader continued to walk calmly towards her. He was taking his sweet time trying to work her nerves up. Claire was not going to let him win by being a good submissive little girl.

"I am so going to enjoy this."

She spat at him and smiled when he reached his hand to his cheek. He stared at the spit in disbelief and his jaw clenched in anger. "Damn you!" the man pulled his arm back to hit her.

She closed her eyes waiting for the strike to come.

"Who the hell are you?" the leader asked.

Claire opened her eyes to see what got into the crazy man. She gasped when a figure with blond hair wearing a blue shirt and a tactical vest was standing in front of her. Wesker was gripping to the man's arm. What the hell was he doing way out here?

"Ignorant cretin, how shameful that you attempted to strike a girl who is being is held down by two men. Are you so insecure that you make yourself feel better by hitting girls?" Wesker could not tell because it was cold outside but was Wesker's voice always cold? Either way, she was creeped out causing goose bumps to form on her arms.

"Fuck you!" The leader tried to use his other arm to strike Wesker. Wesker pulled the arm back he was holding and broke it. The owner of said arm yelled in pain.

Wesker looked at the two men, who were holding Claire. "Let the girl go, or I am going to have to use force and arrest you both."

The red jacket knife wielder who was standing to the side thought he had an advantage and ran at Wesker.

He slashed at Wesker like a frenzied animal trying to get his prey but Wesker effortless dodged him. The redhead was hoping that Wesker kicked his ass.

"Hold, still while I gut you like a fish!" The man was getting frustrated that he did not draw any blood from Wesker.

Wesker chuckled darkly which would have made an evil villain proud. "Very well, I grow tired of these games." Wesker made a stance and caught the knife arm of the man twisting it to the man's back. A sound of metal clanging alerted everyone present that the man was disarmed.

The man still had some fight left in him and tried to side swing at Wesker with his fist. The blonde man expected the attack and let the man go causing the man to fall due to his loss of balance.

The stumbling man gave a yell of frustration and ran at the stoic S.T.A.R.S captain. Wesker did this concentrated palm hit near the man's heart. As soon as the hit made contact, the man clutched his chest and fell to the ground.

The men, who were holding Claire, stared at each other stupidly and they must have made a silent agreement to run away, dropping her unceremoniously to the ground.

Claire was going to pick herself up when she noticed a gloved hand being extended to her. She reached out gingerly accepting it.

The sound of something heavy hitting the ground caused them both to look down. The redhead picked up and inspected Chris's gun hoping there were no indentions made on the gun from the fall.

She felt Wesker's eyes looking at her. She looked up to see him have an eyebrow raised even though his eyes were not visible. "Do you have a license for that firearm Mrs. Redfield?" Just great, Wesker was going to arrest her.

"No I don't." The blonde extended his hand for the gun. She released a breathe that she did not know she was holding. While Wesker was inspecting it, she decided to start with her alibi, not that he would care . "I bought it tonight for Chris for Christmas."

"You know this gun has a lot of kick to it, and you could have seriously harmed yourself."Ignoring her comment,Wesker held the gun out offering it back.

What the hell? He was giving it back. She could not help but give him a bewildered look.

"I know. I made the mistake of firing it in the air and the recoil knocked me to the ground, otherwise I would have gotten out of that mess." He got that right. Claire did not think she would ever fire a magnum again unless the situation called for it.

"I know. I heard a gun being fired and came right over. That was not smart of you walking around here late at night especially with a gun with no license. If I had not come then you could have gone to court for shooting the man, and you would have probably gone to jail. I believe you are not 21 and you have no gun license, correct?"

She felt like Wesker was berating her and giving a lecture. She felt small as he kept on rubbing all of her faults in her face. The tone of disapproval was like he had a gift of getting into people's heads and screwing with them. No wonder he was a cop.

_Come on tell me something I don't know jerkface._

"And another thing, It is not wise to egg on your attackers. You could make things much worse but I should have expected this behavior from a Redfield. Are you all this defiant?" He stated dryly as though he was used to this behavior.

Claire was losing her self control the longer he drawled with his calm demeanor. Suddenly, she could not take it anymore.

"So what are you going to do?" She snapped and looked at Wesker with her hands on her hips trying to become eye level with him to challenge him. He would not intimidate her. She wanted him to do whatever he was planning on doing and get it over with. The more she ranted, she could not tell if he was staring at her because of those darn sunglasses. Who in their right mind wore sunglasses at night anyway? Apparently, Albert Wesker.

After what seemed like a long time, the S.T.A.R.S captain took off his sunglasses and looked sternly at her. "I should arrest you right now…" What a surprise, anything else new? Wesker took his job seriously the miserable fool.

This was the perfect moment to zone out. What was the point of listening if he was just going to arrest her anyway? "; however, I'll overlook this little mishap on one condition. "

_What did he just say?!_

He waited until he got a nod from the younger Redfield. If it was possible, his look sort of softened a little before continuing, "You must promise to never try a stunt like this again and do not walk alone at night."

"Al-alright" She stammered as she was lost into the light grey–blue orbs of Wesker's eyes. Another thing that caught her by surprise was that Wesker was willing to let her go.

Wesker did not say anything else. He handed her the gun after he felt like he had her full cooperation.

"Thank you." She gave him a small smile accepting the offered weapon. She looked at two men who were unfortunate to cross Wesker. The man with the broken arm was still cradling it crying softly to himself. While the other one was lying on the ground appearing unresponsive.

"Did you kill that man?"

Wesker walked over to the unresponsive man laying on the ground and slightly kicked him, eliciting a small groan from the man. So he was not dead.

"These men can find their way to the hospital. Unless you would rather file a police report."

"Um that's okay, I rather not." Claire thought it was a bad idea because Wesker would have her fill out the police report. Wesker out of spite would make Chris process the paperwork alerting her brother that she was wandering around the city at night. She would never hear the end of it.

"It was nice seeing you again, Captain Wesker. And thanks for your assistance. I really need to get back to the precinct to go get my bike."

She walked away not really caring for an answer, feeling uncomfortable being in Wesker's presence longer than necessary. As she was walking, she noticed Wesker had caught up to her easily matching pace. That man clearly was in shape and she huffed in annoyance.

"I thought I made it clear that you can never walk these streets alone at night, Ms. Redfield." Wesker chided as he kept up with her pace.

She opened her mouth in protest but then closed it remembering he was right. She walked away angrily muttering under her breath about a stupid sunglass wearing blonde, as she saw a ghost of a smirk form around his lips oblivious to her glare.

"Suit yourself." She had to have the last word because a Redfield always wins.

The rest of the walk was awkward. Nothing was said between them. She could not help but notice that Wesker walked with an air of arrogance. He walked so confidently with a straight back towering almost everything and everyone they passed by. People would barely spare him a glance before darting their eyes away from the intimidating man. During the walk, Claire would look towards the sky or the buildings. It gave her something to look at other than Wesker. She was able to pull it off because of an excuse of never being in Raccoon City before. To be perfectly honest, walking beside Wesker scared her because she could not look at him the entire she would meet his gaze if she did. She could feel his eyes boring into the back of her head. It was fine with her not knowing what he was thinking nor did she want to find out.

She mentally thanked God when they reached the station. She felt like she was walking to a funeral from silence of the walk. .Not wasting time, she mounted her bike and put on her helmet with the visor still open.

"Thank you for the walk back. I am going to hurry home before Chris gets back. " After thanking him, she placed her hand on the handle bar ready to leave , until a gloved hand was placed over her right hand. Claire reflexively gripped the handle bar even tighter as her eyes gave away her shock.

All Wesker said was , "Drive safe, Claire."

"I always do." Trying to maintain a sense of dignity, she gave him an assured smile and drove away with thoughts plagued with the enigma that was Albert Wesker.

* * *

Next: Formal Introductions

We get to see the introductions of the main characters for the rest of this story arc (Book 1: Raccoon City)

When I first published this chapter, Claire meets Wesker again at a Christmas party. I thought it was a little OOc for my taste. I cannot wait to publish chapter 4 of this story. It was originally chapter 5 in my previous work.


	3. Prequel: Drafted

This story will be very Au in terms when events take place and when things happen. I feel it adds to the drama in this story. I am sorry for any typos.

I don't own any of the characters of this fic.

******Although reviewing is not a requirement, constructive Criticism Reviews (both anonymous and signed) are accepted and encouraged. .**

**Thank you to those who already reviewed and favorited/followed.**

******Thanks again lovely readers for taking the time to read.**

* * *

My gift to my loyal readers is 5485 words of goodness.

July 19,2001 8 p.m

Claire Redfield's story was not making any sense. Perhaps she was spy like Ada Wong or even an undercover journalist who found out about Raccoon City. Oh Ada, how one woman could float into his mind. In his deranged mind, he knew that she loved him as well. For some reason, his decision to have Raccoon City blown up really disgusted her. She made her displeasure known by leaving him. He swore that he would find her. He would use all his resources in the Family to make this happen.

"Ms. Redfield, I don't see how meeting Annette Birkin on a New Year's day party gives you guardianship over the orphan Sherry Birkin." The Security director crossed his arms while frowning. If he said he was thirty his age would not spontaneously erase. What was Redfield thinking?

He might have to get rid of Claire Redfield because she was a loose end with Raccoon City. The government found out about Leon S. Kennedy. He tried within his power to kill Leon or at least have him isolated for life. However, the government was adamant about keeping someone with Leon Kennedy's expertise at their disposal. He did not need survivors roaming around saying how the city was destroyed by the American government. If this happened, then his beloved country would be in turmoil.

"I have guardianship papers signed by her mother and father." Claire broke the man out of his daydream by shoving the legal papers at him.

The advisor skeptically looked at the papers. Indeed, both signatures of the parents were present. He gave Claire a narrowed brow for her audacity to adopt Sherry. Sherry was the last living sample of the G-Virus, without her, the Family would be unable to carry out their mission to create the perfect race.

"You expect the U.S. government to hand over the only person in the entire world who has the only G- virus antibodies? Are you so heartless that you put your personal feelings above the welfare of your country?" This girl was a fool if she believed he would hand over this wonderful virus sample to a no name civilian.

"She is a young girl, damnit!" the man jumped when Claire slammed her clenched fist on his desk, breaking it in half and turning the middle into sawdust. "Not some damn test subject !" Sherry would be stuck with a needle over Claire's dead body.

The man was terrified because he swore Claire's eyes glowed an unearthly hue of blue in her bout of anger. He looked at his wooden desk for the longest time , not believing it was broken.

"Ho-o-ow did yo-ou do –"

Claire closed her eyes and calmed herself down, knowing what she was about to say would cause her to be a prisoner to the US government for the rest of her life. At least, Sherry will have a childhood._  
_

"Sherry, may have the G antibodies; however, I am the host of two viruses: the T and G virus some last souvenirs I picked up from Raccoon city. Claire rubbed her fists. She had another trump card but she would not tell this man her last secret.

The man sat a little forward contemplating his next move. The government may have Kennedy and the skills he may possess. If Claire was in his possession then things will go better for him. He was going to play Claire's game to make her think she was in control. "Do you know who I am, Ms. Redfield?"

"An asshole." Claire replied bluntly. This man knew her secret and she knew he was going to use her. This was the third time she used her virus powers in the three years since she had gotten them. She also knew that there was more to the bastard than meets the eye.

The man smirked at Claire's audacity. Suffice it to say, if she did not tell him her previous story of confronting her attackers, he would have been pissed.

"My name is Derek Simmons." He removed himself from his chair and stood eye level with Claire Redfield. " I am the national security advisor. It is my unfortunate job to protect the United States whether from threats or its secrets."

Claire narrowed her eyes at Simmons. She did not care who he was nor cowered with his threats."I want my goddaughter, Simmons." National security advisor be damned. Claire was not leaving without Sherry.

"And you will on a few conditions. " He watched Claire clench her fist knowing that she would have to comply with his demands.

"I am listening." Claire answered through clench teeth.

"You will live in a government owned safe house. You both will be alone but we will be watching you. " He puts up a finger to emphasize his points. "Two, you must provide blood samples so we can prepare antiviruses. Three, you will be available to help in missions. The missions will not take that long only a month at most, and four you must supply to me a written account of what really happened to you in Raccoon City."

"I won't accept these conditions without a compromise. " Did Simmons think she was stupid? She was not going to accept this blindly without making and reservations of her own.

"Very well state your terms." Simmons smirked knowing there was not much Claire could change to the situation.

"I only have three propositions. Sherry will not be experimented on and she will be free to live her life. When I am on a mission, she will stay with Chris or Leon." Claire knew that Chris and Leon would take good of Sherry when she was gone. She had to take in a deep breath before she finished her last request. Simmons may actually be useful. "You will allow me to take down Umbrella and Albert Wesker."

Simmons opened his mouth and then closed it. Wesker was alive? It was impossible . He cleared his throat before answering to stop his voice from croaking."I agree with the first." Not many people knew that Simmons was not totally heartless. He believed that a young girl should not be experimented on unless it was warranted. " As with the second, I will only agree to it if they stay in your safe house." There was no way Sherry was leaving his sight if Claire had an unfortunate accident. "Lastly, I'll debate whether you take any missions regarding Umbrella . As for Wesker, he is dead."

Claire scoffed at Simmons. "Wesker is like a cockroach that can't be killed. " Simmons cringed at the animosity in Claire's voice. Clearly, something happened between those two.

"The terms are acceptable." Claire pulls out a memo folder and hands it to Simmons wanting to leave soon. This guy was pissing her off demanding her to sell her soul to the government."There is your written account with accounts from myself, Leon Kennedy, Jill Valentine, Chris Redfield and lastly albert Wesker. Now for your end of the bargain. "

Wesker? How did she get an account from Albert Wesker if the man was dead .He decided that he would not question her and just read the manuscript.

Simmons chuckled , "You knew that you would run out of time to tell me your story and you came prepared. Very Well." Simmons pushed an intercom button , and there was blank tone filled with static until a voice answered.

"You called, sir."

"Daniel, Please bring Ms. Birkin to my office."

"Yes , Sir." As soon as Simmons released the button a click was heard.

"Let's finish some business before you leave today. Here is the location of the safe house. You will report back here to me when there are missions. You will get a stipend to take care of yourself and Ms. Birkin. At some point go to the CIA office to pick up your weapon equipment." He handed Claire a packet of information with her first check. He was going to keep careful progress of her so he can obtain combat data.

As soon as Simmons finished informing Claire, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in." Simmons admitted without taking his eyes off Claire. Seeing the anxious look on the young girl's face, he had leverage he can use against her.

Claire on the other hand was looking for a little blond girl. "Claire!" As soon as Sherry saw Claire, she ran to Claire almost knocking Daniel over in the process.

Claire barely had to squat down to embrace Sherry, since Sherry grew a little taller.

"I missed you so much. " Sherry sobbed. Sherry had not seen Claire in over three years. She stayed with Leon a couple of months after Raccoon until she was given to Simmons.

"I know. I missed you as well." Claire finally obtained Sherry after all of the fighting she went through. She could see her goddaughter grow up. Well, finish high school since the girl is 14.

"As touching this moment is, I want to leave while the night is still young." There were too many people in his office and they needed to leave.

Claire gave Simmons a dirty look. "Gladly, Come on Sherry ."

"Remember, Claire. You will be hearing from me soon."

Claire tensed at his reminder then opened the door.

"Let's see what happened to you in Raccoon Ms. Redfield." Simmons opened Claire's manuscript and began reading.

* * *

December 31st 1997 10 p.m

"Claire are you almost ready" Chris bellowed knocking on the bathroom door rather impatiently. This was the tenth time he returned. He had to raise his voice so Claire could hear him over the hairdryer.

"I don't know why you girls need hours to get ready. I can get done in 5 minutes! You got ten minutes before we leave. " Chris breathed an aggravated sigh and stomped away to some part of the hallway. He thought that they would never make it to the party at Claire's snail pace.

"Yeah, almost done!" Claire hastily finished brushing while blow drying her hair. She was satisfied that she was able to give her hair a long curly hairstyle on her first attempt. She never tried anything else ,bedsides putting her hair in a ponytail. When she opened the bathroom door, Chris was standing near the entryway with his arms crossed. He raised his eyebrow at his sister's look. He thought she was too dressed up for this party. He wanted to tell her to change because he could almost look down her dress. But they were already pressed for time.

"It took you long enough."Realizing his dilemma, Chris looked at his watch. "We still need to pick up Jill at her place." Jill was going to kill him if they were late. He wanted this evening to be perfect.

They started driving to Jill's place. The snow made the city look beautiful tonight. The streets were empty, because people were out celebrating at their own places.

The car was silent. Chris was deep in thought about how he would ask Jill to dance with him. Finally, he parked the car in front of Jill's apartment.

"Honestly Chris you look fine." His sister scolded after he fidgeted with his shirt collar for the fiftieth time. Chris was nervous, since this was the first party that Jill and himself were going as a couple. With Claire's begrudging, Chris finally asked Jill out at the Burton's Christmas party.

Claire went to the back letting Jill have the front seat. Jill walked out sporting an elegant white gown and sat in the back with the younger Redfield.

"Hey, why won't anyone sit with me? I am not going to be anyone's chauffer." Chris purposedly tried to sound hurt to guilt trip one of the girls to sit up there with him.

"Chris suck it up and be a gentlemen, and besides weren't you complaining about being late". His sister reminded so he can shut up and drive.

Chris realized she had a point and mumbled that it was her fault that they were late.

* * *

December 31st 11p.m

Claire was standing at the food bar stuffing her face in with all of the expensive food, not caring what these business executives thought.

The person who thought of this theme was an idiot. "Winter wonderland". She felt like she was in a white room of an asylum. Everyone was wearing white and the decorations were all white. As soon as she walked into the building, she lost Jill and Chris. She stopped looking for them after thirty minutes, since there were so many people at this party wearing white.

She was starting to lose her patience at these two older men staring below her neck and wanted to tell them to" Fuck off." Walking away was the better option that was until she walked into someone.

She wanted to glare at whoever was not watching where they were going, until she saw the soft apologetic look on this man's handsome face.

"I am so sorry!" The young man helped her up. His brownish blonde hair made him look like a sweet angel.

"No, forgive me. I was not watching where I was going." She wanted to take the blame. She was thinking that this cute looking man can get away with anything if it involved her.

"But still I made you fall." The man felt bad that he may have ruined the girl's night.

She held out her arms to reassure him "See, no harm done. I am not injured." Claire laughed at his worried expression.

The man smiled feebly, until he realized he should be a gentleman. "I am Leon Kennedy.

"Claire Redfield. Leon are you from Raccoon?" Claire hoped she could see Leon more.

"No, I am in a police academy, but I am graduating in September. Raccoon will be my assigned City. "

Oh are you a cop? You are not going to make a good cop if you keep knocking over ladies."

"My lady you wound me how can I ever regain my honor."

Claire liked Leon's lightheartedness. There was an air about him that made him easy to talk to.

"So if you are not a cop yet, what brings you to Raccoon?"

"Chief Irons wanted to invite me today to become familiar with the area."

"What about Chief Irons?" A nasily voiced questioned behind her. She wanted to gag at the oily voice of this man. He sounded like a snake.

"Oh, Chief Irons. It is nice to see you." Claire could tell that Leon was trying to be polite and not enjoying this interruption.

"Oh Leon you rascal . I see where all the pretty ladies hang out . " His greedy eyes was looking all up and down Claire. Claire wanted to hide in a box from all of his lust filled gazing.

"What is your name my sweet?" Ugh was he trying to be romantic. Claire felt like she was being interviewed by a sex predator.

Leon could see the discomfort on Claire's face, while she was scanning the food bar for a knife to protect herself from this man.

"I think I must be going." Leon frowned because Irons was being a ballbreaker.

"Just hold on a second. Why don't we have a dance." Claire wanted to scream when the fat man grabbed her arm .It felt greasy and she wanted to sanitize her arm by putting it on fire.

"With all due respect, Chief Irons. She cannot dance with you because- " Claire got Leon's hint and trying follow his lead since she did not mind dancing with Leon.

"I already promised- "

"Me." A cold voice finished Claire's statement.

Claire had her mouth slightly open in shock. Irons looked like he was going to piss himself and dropped her arm as if it was acid. Leon, on the other hand, was glaring at Wesker and Wesker returned the glare.

"Wesker," Irons began pathetically. " you can see this is an honest mistake. No harm no foul. " Irons tried to weasel his way out of Wesker's anger. Claire thought it was odd because if Irons was Wesker's boss, then why was he acting like a scared animal.

Wesker ignored Irons and pulled on Claire's arm . Claire gave Leon an apologetic look and mouthed to him, "I am sorry."

Leon yells out, " I'll find you later." Claire gave him a nod .

Wesker was weaving her through the crowd and she was getting tired of it. "You know if you wanted to dance, you could have asked me instead of causing a scene." Claire did not know the way Wesker operated, other than the fact that this man was rude.

"You were in sordid company and I had to rectify the situation" Wesker replied in an annoyed tone without looking at her.

"You don't own me, Wesker. When did you get the memo that I gave you permission to watch who I hang out with?" Claire was considering getting a restraining order against Wesker. They were not in a relationship and this man was trying to control her.

"Irons is a snake. Hanging out with him will give you a bad reputation." Claire could hear contempt in Wesker's voice when he mentioned Irons. Obviously, there was a story behind the chief that she did not know.

They were taken to the dance floor. Wesker put an arm around her waist and took her other hand and started dancing to a slow waltz. Claire wondered where he learned how to dance because he was a fluid dancer, unlike her trying to avoid stepping on his toes.

"Mr. Kennedy was it? He is a pretty boy with an over sense of duty. He lets duty take over his emotions." Claire watched Wesker's nostrils flare when talking about the rookie cop. Was Wesker jealous? Clearly ,Wesker wooed hundreds of girls with his looks. Why would he be jealous over a nineteen year old?

"What makes you an authority of match making." Claire wanted to know his aim.

"So do you Redfields always talk so much?" Claire took this as her cue to be quiet, since she saw his jaw clench. She wondered what had gotten the older man so worked up.

"Only when pompous jerks takes advantage of us." Claire answered his question and tried walking away ,as soon as the song was over to let him know she could not stand him, but Wesker forcibly pulled her back.

"Do you know it is rude to leave in the middle of a dance?" Wesker chided what was his deal anyway? Claire did not know why he wanted to be around her.

She tried to protest but realized a new song started. Wesker was smart he used the background to his advantage. " You win this round Wesker. I give you this dance and that's it." Claire wanted to find Leon thinking he was better company than this scowling man, who looks like he had a stick of arrogance shoved up his ass.

The lights grew dark and the light reflected off Wesker's eyes. Like diamonds it was such a pretty sight to behold. She wondered why she did not notice he was not wearing sunglasses. She was oblivious that one song turned into two then three. It seemed that both were so lost into the music or to each other. At one point, she missed his smirk when she absentmindedly placed her hand over his and left it there not feeling the soft squeeze. She failed to notice that he was playing with a stray lock of her red curls. She felt his strong arms circle around her body. She initially stiffened until she was drawn into the scent of his expensive cologne. The smell made her relax and she stared straight into his eyes.

Wesker caught her staring, "Enjoying the view?" Claire thought his voice quite soft. Softer than she would ever associate with Wesker.

"You wish." Claire blushed and looked away.

She composed herself as soon as she heard the countdown. She swore she felt Wesker's face close to hers. Her teenage addled brain thought she was lucky dancing with a handsome older guy. Her hormones took over and she kissed him.

* * *

Chris was in a horrible mood. He lost his sister 30 minutes into the party and she refused to pick up her damn phone.

His brotherly instincts were kicking into overdrive. He thought this was the last party he would take his sister to ,if this was the way she acted.

"Chris , Claire will be fine." Jill reassured. The night was not going well because Chris was not paying any attention to her. Jill loved Chris and Claire as a sister, but she believed Claire was not in any danger.

Forest came back with a load a food. "It looks like this party's hoppin. There are no cute chicks here besides your sister ,Redfield, and even she looks like she is taken." Forest began to scarf down his food.

"What the hell are you talking about Forest?" If Claire was dating someone under his nose, he would go crazy on her boyfriend to scare him off.

" She is at the food bar." Forest surrendered the information after he saw Chris's death glare.

Chris looked at the food bar and saw Claire was talking to a guy who looked like Leonardo Decaprio from the Titanic movie that Jill forced him to see this year. "Claire is not dating any Decaprio." Chris's mind immediately went the Flying scene in that movie. This would not do at all and he began to storm over.

"Chris let her have some fun. You cannot shelter her forever."Claire looked happy and he decided that he would back off.

" Okay you win." Jill smiled when she got him to calm down until he saw Irons show up.

"Son of a bitch! Irons showed up." _Over protective my ass._

He made it a few feet until he saw Claire disappear and the room became dark. There was no way that he would find Claire now. He felt Jill wrap her harms around his neck and he instinctively brought his arms around her waist looking directly into her brown eyes.

"Relax, Chris. Everything will be fine." Jill assured again.

They slow danced in that spot for a couple of songs until a peculiar noise interrupted them.

"What is it now, Forest?" Chris snapped.

Forest whistled again. " I spy with my little eye a certain two people being rather intimate on the dance floor. "

"Shut up, Forest."

" I am not talking about you two. Besides, it is common knowledge that you two have the hots for one another. I am talking about a one innocent sister of yours and the terminator of a boss of ours."

"Oh hell no!" Chris caused everyone who was dancing to look at him at his outburst. How dare he kiss my sister I am going to murder him."

Jill was looking at the cause of Chris's distress. She saw Wesker's fingers were laced through Claire's hair on the back of her head while the rest of his palm was on her cheek. They were making out on the dance floor clearly into the kiss.

Jill had a little singe at jealously at Claire because she wished she was being kissed like that by Chris.

"Chris, there is nothing you can do. The best we can do is confront them later without causing a scene." Jill realized that Chris was not there and she ran after Chris before he did anything.

* * *

January 1st 1998 12 a.m.

Claire realized what she had done. If someone saw them, she must have looked like a slut because she basically ate Wesker's face up with that kiss. She did not think he returned her kiss. In addition, Wesker's reputation would be ruined.

"I am so sorry," Claire stammered. "I was not thinking and I forgot about the age gap between us. You are like 29 and I am 19 and you are like respectable…"

Claire was so embarrassed and wanted to get away from here. She wanted to run away and bask in her shame. What would her brother think? The thought brought tears to her eyes. She tried to remove herself from the blonde but he would not let go.

"Please, Wesker let go. I already caused enough trouble as it is." Claire whispered turning her head to the side. She could not bear to look at his pissed off face.

"So fragile, delicate, and yet so desirable." He purred in her ear. "Now Dearheart, you did not have to come up with an elaborate scheme just to let me know that you are madly in love with me. She could hear the amusement and something else in his voice.

"I am not in love with you. You sadistic man." Wesker was making her feel like shit, feeling like a slut. Claire finally broke free and let the tears flow down her face.

Claire eyed a blonde couple staring at her from the wall she was leaning up against. They were a cute couple she thought since they both were blonde. She shifted her position, so they would not see her tear streaked face.

"Are you alright?" A woman asked with concern.

"I will be, once I am able to leave." Claire gave the blonde woman a soft smile and noticed the woman's husband standing behind his wife observing her. Claire had to move her face from the man's scrutinizing gaze.

"Claire! There you are." Claire saw Leon approach her and stopped when he realized that she had been crying.

"Wesker did this didn't he?" Claire was surprised to hear hate in Leon's voice. Leon sounded like he was going to murder Wesker.

"Albert Wesker?" The blonde woman asked. Claire wondered if the woman knew Wesker. She also started hating to hear that name.

"Annette ,Birkin I am surprised to see you here." A familiar drawl greeted.

_Speak of the devil is it ever possible to lose this man_? Claire wondered when she heard his footsteps stop starting to feel tormented by his constant presence.

Birkin saw Claire shift a little uncomfortably. "This is a party for all Raccoon industry workers and Annette thought it would be a refreshing change to get out tonight. I am surprised that you came out tonight, but then again I do not blame you, you sly dog."

Claire was appreciating Leon consoling her, as he rubbed her back when she stiffened at Birkin's implication.

"Birkin, if you do not mind I would really like to have a word with-" Wesker was being annoyed with Birkin's badgering.

"Moi? Why did you not say so." Birkin grabbed Wesker's arm and looked at Claire.

"Claire would you be a doll and keep my wife company?"Birkin asked in a playful tone and walked some distance with Wesker but was in direct eyesight.

"He is not my boyfriend." Claire just added lamely thinking saying it out loud would make her feel better.

"This is why I hate parties. You never know when drama would pop up." Annette consoled trying to cheer Claire up.

"I thought I was the only one. "Claire gave Annette a grateful smile. Leon was silent, because he wanted Claire to perk up but he would not stop rubbing her back. The action alone made him happy.

"So Annette, your husband works in industry?" Claire decided she wanted to learn more about Annette.

"Ah ,yes we both work for Umbrella."

"The pharmaceutical company . Wow it must be fun making drugs all day."Claire thought that both husband and wife were very smart to do research.

Annette gave Claire a sad smile. If only she knew what really went behind the shadows.

"You could say that, but it gets rather lonely because everyone competes with each other and try to sabotage each other experiments."

"It must be sad to work in an environment with long hours not at home. Since your husband works with you, he understands."

"Don't get me wrong I am happy. It is sad because we do not have time to be with our eleven year old daughter. " Annette admitted.

Leon looked at the time and realized he had to go before his car got towed."Claire, I have to get going ,but it would be nice if I can see you before I leave in three days. " Claire was watching Birkin and Wesker while Leon was talking to her. She moved her head when Wesker was looking in her direction.

"Of course Leon." Claire gives Leon a small smile. Leon handed her his number and he wanted to make her feel better so he gave her a comforting kiss on her forehead. When Leon walked away, she placed her hand on her forehead and could feel where Leon's lips touched her skin.

"Ah Claire, I hope Annette did not bore you with her tales." Claire gave Birkin a small smile, but Wesker had a strange glint in his eyed.

"Not at all. She was pleasant company."

"Claire, I was wondering if you had plans tomorrow or today now that it is midnight?"

"No, I had nothing planned." Claire wondered where Annette was going with this.

"Do you mind accompanying me and Sherry to go clothes shopping?" The hopeful look on Annette's face made Claire have to say yes. Annette basically told her that she had no friends, and Claire would be a horrible person if she said no.

"Of course I don't mind!" Claire could not wait to meet Sherry.

"Excellent! My wife gets splendid company. You do not know how much this means to me and Annette. We must be going to check on Sherry. Have fun you two!" Claire rubbed her face at Birkin's audacity. He was trying to kill her with her nerves.

Claire was left awkwardly with Wesker. She started to walk away when she was grabbed. Oh not this again enough with the grabbing.

"What do you want?" Claire hissed. This man needed to get the hint that she was trying to distance herself from him, because it was not a good idea to be near him.

He dragged her to a line of people waiting and a flash her light made her realize it was a photo booth.

"You know you could have told me you wanted to get a picture taken, instead of manhandling me like a ,Bitch." She rubbed her sore wrist to emphasize her point.

"Would you have listened?" Claire looks at Wesker 's raised eyebrow and looked away defiantly, answering his question.

"I don't get you Ms. Redfield? " Wesker's voice broke her silence.

"What is there not to get? All you have to do is ask and not demand. " Claire crossed her arms and glared at the woman with the fur scarf giving her looks.

"One moment you are kissing me and the next you were intimate with Mr. Kennedy." Wesker stated as though he was trying to put some sort of puzzle together.

"I was not intimate with him!" Any normal person would not think anything of that gesture.

"You let him kiss you while you would have slapped Mr. Spyer if he tried that with you."

" Forest had what was coming to him. Leon ,on the other hand, was being a gentleman and that was not a kiss , he was trying to make me feel better."

"Why would you possible need to feel better?" Wesker sounded like he had never been in a real relationship before.

"Well ,I don't know because I was upset. What is this 50 questions? I am not telling you my life story. If you think I am going to tell you anything else I won't?" She asked sarcastically and huffed in frustration. Wondering what she did in this life to warrant her such punishment?

"Why not? " _Arrogant bastard who did he think he is?_

"One, I barely know anything about you. You probably know more about me from Chris. To answer your question about Leon , he gave me his number to go on a date with him. I think I am going to take him up on that offer." Claire almost regretted saying that because Wesker had a murderous look in his eyes and she started to fear for Leon's and her life.

"So, the only reason why you would go on a date is to know Mr. Kennedy better?"

"Um, yeah…that is the point of a date."

"What if I wanted to take Mr. Kennedy's place?"

Claire could not believe Wesker was jealous and was he implying that he wanted to go on a date with her ?

"So are you saying you wanted to go out with me? If that is what you are implying then I have been asked better than that? Your question has a lot of implications." She thought she was crazy toying with Wesker she did not even know what he was capable of for that matter.

"Ms. Redfield, will you accompany to dinner so we can know each other better?"

"See was that so hard? Sure I will go to dinner with you." Claire was not really paying attention to her reply for she wanted to get the night over with. Moments later, she thought she was dreaming when she agreed to go on a date with Wesker. Shit ,Chris was going to kill her.

"Pretty soon dear Claire you will see things my way." Wesker laughed darkly leaving chills down Claire's spine breaking her out of her conflicting thoughts.

* * *

Next: Sherry and Departure

Claire meets Sherry and some Annette bonding.

Claire will go on a date with Leon and Wesker. There is a character death and we see Claire's Departure to England. What was Claire's last secret that she did not share with Simmons?

Claire is a little naïve in this chapter. I think she toughens up as the Raccoon city incident happens it seems more realistic to me. I am sorry if the characters seemed a little ooc. I cannot tell with no beta reader or lack of feedback I apologize. This original chapter was published in two parts.

I think the next chapter (4) will be the last light chapter then everything else will be dark for all of the characters.

I think I can fit in two more updates next week and then things are going to be slow since grad school starts.


	4. Prequel:Sherry

This story will be very Au in terms when events take place and when things happen. I feel it adds to the drama in this story. I am sorry for any typos.

I don't own any of the characters of this fic.

**Although reviewing is not a requirement, constructive Criticism Reviews (both anonymous and signed) are accepted and encouraged..**

******Thanks again lovely readers for taking the time to read.**

**I have thanked those who have reviewed in the author's notes.**

My gift to my loyal readers is 7,467 words of goodness. Dear goodness ~13,000 words in two days.

* * *

January 1st 1998 11. am

"Ah, Fuck this."Forest panted and hunched over trying to catch his breath. "Ah, Redfield why did you do that for." Forest whined as soon as Chris shoved him. His insides were killing him and his abdominal muscles felt as though they were tearing him out from the inside. The wet grass was not helping either since he almost fell down again.

"For once, Forest, keep your cocky mouth shut. This your fault we are doing these suicides!" Chris yelled over his shoulder after he ran past Forest. Forest could not understand how Chris had so much stamina. It was insane because he was not even buff.

"Hey,why so bitter?" Forest mocked Chris by pretending he did not hear.

"I don't see why we covered up for your ass-" Chris seethed while continuing his suicide run. He debated whether it was possible to do 60 of them. He could barely do 10.

"I said keep 10 meters apart from each other. You still have 50 more suicides to go!" Wesker barked.

"Someone clearly woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Wesker turned around to see Claire smirking at him from his antics..

"Ms. Redfield, such an inopportune time for you to choose to come. Clearly, you see every member of the S.T.A.R.S team busy. Wesker clearly wanted her to come back later. She guessed he did not want her to see how he disciplined his team.

"What did my brother do to warrant such punishment?" Claire walked up to the captain and started brushing off the white powder on his vest until he grabbed her hand.

"One of the S.T.A.R.S members broke into my office and put a chicken in my desk. Suffice it to say, it got a little excited, as it flew out at me. " Wesker replied bluntly with controlled anger. He let go of her hand as soon as he saw the look of horror on her face.

Claire instinctively wiped her hand on the side of her jeans.

"None have ratted out the culprit. So I have decided to inspire discipline." Wesker continued looking at his straggling workers finishing their 30th suicide. He blew his whistle. "Pick your assess up. There is nothing wrong with your legs so use them!" He expected better from his team because he can easily do a hundred suicides.

"Shouldn't you be proud of their determination of not ratting out the culprit? This obviously required a strong amount of discipline and teamwork?" Claire believed groups like S.T.A.R.S. needed to have the best bond. It was the only way they can fluidly work together

"What commend them on childish behavior?"Wesker asked incredulously." Praising them will give them an incentive to continue these childish acts. Giving a dog a treat after it relieves itself on the carpet, will give it an incentive to continue. It is called-"

"Yeah, Conditioning you smart ass." Really arguing with Wesker was like arguing with a brick wall. "Wesker, can you only focus on the moment and can't see the bigger picture?" Claire was getting a clearer picture of Wesker as a shallow and bitter man.

"What else is there to see? Ms. Redfield you are not the S.T.A.R. S captain. You do not tell me what to do. Since you believe yourself to be in control ,please tell me what your naïve mind can come-" Wesker's face turned to the side as soon as Claire 's hand made contact with his face.

Claire wondered why she put up with him for so long, since he had been so condescending towards her.

"You are so vile! I cannot believe how _naïve _I did not realize this sooner. Don't worry about me. Oh, just to let you know Wesker. You are an evil bastard." Claire made sure she was only loud enough not to get the attention of the suffering S.T.A.R.S members on the track, who were crawling on their bellies trying to finish their 31st suicide.

Claire began running to the precinct since she was due to meet Annette soon. She had hoped that Annette could take her mind off Wesker. Just thinking of him made her see red. It must have rained because she had to dodge a lot of fallen branches on the pavement.

How had she not seen it before? He was only manipulating her to have sex . He only thought of her as a young girl and could not see her as an adult. She was not going to be used. She found a comfortable place to sit on a bench near the RCPD reception desk.

"Hey there, Claire." Annette's voice brought Claire out of her reverie.

"Hi Annette-" , Claire smiled at Annette and then noticed the shy, little blond girl holding Annette's hand. Claire crouched down to be eye level with Sherry. "and you must be Sherry . Your mom has told me so much about you." Claire finished smiling.

Sherry blushed and smiled at Claire. Claire could see that Sherry looked like Birkin but had Annette's eyes.

"Uncle Albert!" Sherry let go of her mom's hand and ran over to Albert Wesker.

Claire rolled her eyes and got up from her position to face the disgusting man. She immediately, noticed Sherry attached to his leg while he patted her head. A lot of the cops in the precinct gave each other worried looks. Clearly, thinking of Sherry's safety with the famous S.T.A.R.S captain.

"Wesker, it is nice to see you –"

Annette's greeting was interrupted by Sherry's question. "Uncle Albert, what happened to your face?"

Annette wanted to burst out laughing when she saw the menacing look on Claire's face along with Wesker sporting a slap mark.

Apparently, Wesker was not interested in making small conversation. He took a deep breath to maintain his calm facade."Ms. Redfield, can I speak with you privately for a moment?"

Claire clenched her fist because she did not want to deal with him so soon. How on earth did he get here so fast anyway? "Shouldn't you be busy torturing S.T.A.R.S members? There is nothing we have to discuss that cannot be spoken openly here. If you feel this not the case then tough luck,because I have other pressing matters to attend. Annette took this as her cue to get going.

"Well, I think we have lingered here enough. I guess we should make our way over right, Claire?" She also did not want Sherry to hear any more of Claire's sass. It was not a good trait for Sherry to pick up.

"Certainly, let's be heading off ." Claire was glad that Annette got the hint. She felt a little apologetic though when she saw the look of confusion on Sherry's face. The girl clearly looked up to Wesker, but she was becoming distressed at Claire's hateful attitude towards him.

"See you Wesker." Annette gave Wesker a smirk seeing the annoyed look on his face. It was clear he did not know what to do in this situation . He clearly had a lot to learn.

* * *

3 p.m.

Annette, Sherry, and Claire were walking around the mall trying to find some school outfits for Sherry. Claire really enjoyed their company because Annette was really nice and Sherry was sweet.

"So, Sherry, how do you like school?" Claire wanted Sherry to open up to her.

"I like it a lot." Sherry beamed and then her face became blank as she thought about her answer. "Well the school part."

"I bet you have lots of friends." Sherry gave a sad smile at Claire's statement.

"I do, but I never was able to go to their houses. In addition, I am not allowed to invite them over." Sherry appeared strong but Claire could see the sadness in her eyes. Sherry did not like to complain in front of her parents because it may worry them.

Claire saw the sad look in Annette's eyes and knew it was not in her place to ask. Claire could not help but frown at Sherry's lack of childhood. Claire tried to alleviate the tension by changing the subject.

"So what do you like to do on your spare time, Sherry? "

"I like to read and bake cookies ."

Claire laughed at Sherry's sudden display of enthusiasm. "If you like cookies, I can give you my grandma's favorite recipe the next time I see you."

"Really? I would love that!" Sherry's face lit up with delight.

Claire could tell that Sherry was genuinely happy. She had taken a behavioral psychology course because she was thinking of going to law school. She knew that Sherry did not go out much or even have fun, because she had hoped her hobbies would extend to outdoor activities as well. Her parents being researchers must make it hard for her to do things she wanted to do, and Claire wanted Sherry to at least experience being a child.

Claire led Annette and Sherry to the Child Gap, because it looked like a convenient place to talk to Annette.

Annette got the hint and told Sherry to look for something she liked.

"You let her choose her own clothes?" Claire asked with a little concern. It seemed that Sherry was becoming independent too early.

"I don't want her to rely on me too much." There was an underlying meaning behind Annette's statement, and Claire did not like where this conversation was going.

"She is just eleven. She is supposed to rely on you." Do all scientists think this way? Claire started to pity all of the children who belonged to scientists. It seemed as though they lived depressing lives.

"I will not always be around, Claire." Annette looked dead serious and Claire tried to make the conversation less morbid.

"Maybe in another 50 years." Claire tried to deflect the conversation through humor, then Claire's face suddenly became serious when Annette's face did not change. "You speak as though you are going to die soon."

"Working in Umbrella is dangerous, Claire." Even though Annette could not tell Claire anything specific, she wanted to let Claire know that Umbrella has secrets.

"I bet with all of the chemicals you work with. I am afraid that I might get blown up trying to make a drug." Annette sighed when she realized that Claire was thinking about this the wrong way. She wanted Claire to know that she was not over exaggerating.

"I have seen things in this company that would make you question ambition and what being alive truly means." Annette closed her eyes hating herself for all of the zombies that her and her husband have created."I don't want my daughter to see what I did, if something happened to me or Birkin." She wanted the taint of her and Birkin's reputation with Umbrella to be hidden away from Sherry. The last thing she wanted for Sherry to think was that her parents were monsters.

"What is going on Annette? What aren't you telling me?" Claire finally realized that Annette was not joking, and pleaded with Annette to let her help the Birkins in anyway possible. Claire wanted to protect Annette and Sherry from whatever was coming.

Annette looked at the fountain ahead and focused on it for a long time. She debated how much she could open up to Claire without endangering her safety. Claire, on the other hand, looked at Annette worriedly. If Annette was in danger ,then she wanted to help her. Finally, Annette broke the silence.

"Umbrella has become so ambitious. They are starting Will on a project that I fear will change him. I have a bad feeling about this, but he says I am worrying over nothing. I know I have been a horrible mother, but I feel like whatever ties that I have to Sherry will be broken." Annette knew somewhere in the near future she would fail as a mother.

"Annette, you are being hard on yourself." Claire reassured trying to make Annette feel better. Claire believed that stress was getting to Annette's head.

Annette looked at Claire in shock. No one beside William had said those words to her in a long time. She saw the look of genuine care in Claire's eyes and understood in that moment that Claire really cared about her well being. The redhead was her last hope.

"Claire, I know I have barely met you, but I have seen how Sherry has taken a liking to you. In addition, Wesker trusts you and as an extension I trust you."

Claire scoffed at the idea that Wesker trusted her if he treated her like shit. "I don't know what to say, Annette."

"I know it is not my place to ask, Claire, but I have no one in Umbrella I can trust. Will and I have no close relatives either. I have a request."

Claire did not like the direction of this conversation, but she thought she would at least hear Annette out.

"What is it?"

"If something happens to both Will and I, will you look after Sherry?" Annette had an edge of desperation in her voice.

"What like adopt?" Claire wondered if Birkin would ever agree to this. "Doesn't William have a say in this?"

"Will would not mind. I don't want her to go to an orphanage. To be perfectly honest, I think you are the best fit for her." Claire did not think herself the responsible type and she did not see that she will be watching Sherry any time soon. Annette was freaking out and just worrying. Odds are both Annette and Will would perhaps die after she finished college.

"Sure, I cannot stand Sherry being alone." Claire admitted and she will visit Sherry while she was in college anyway.

Annette hugged Claire. "Thanks, Claire! I think you are the only true friend I have." Annette for the third time felt genuine joy in her life. The first was marrying William, the second the birth of Sherry, and the third was acquiring the friendship of Claire.

"Now, it's my duty as my friend to ask about your wellbeing." Annette had a devious smirk on her face. Things were going to get juicy.

"My wellbeing?" Claire asked incredulously. The last time she checked she was feeling fine.

Annette's grin got even wider when she saw the confused look on her face. "Yes, obviously Wesker must have really made you mad, because I believe you are the first girl to slap him. In fact, I think you are the only girl he has been seen with."

"You must be kidding me a guy who looks like him? He could get any girl he wants. I really don't care about his opinion of me. He is a horrible, deceitful, condescending-"

"You don't mean that Claire." Annette cut Claire off as she saw the younger woman's face turn red from all of the colorful adjectives she was coming up with.

"Of course I do. He called me naïve when I was trying to commend him how great his squad was. In addition, he keeps on belittling me thinking I am too stupid to take all of his insults in stride! It makes me wonder if he just wants to get into my pants." Claire was seething and clenched her teeth.

Annette thought the feisty redhead could handle the arrogant blond because she had some backbone"Wesker is not the kindest person ever. I think he genuinely cares for you otherwise he would not try to get your attention. I remember this one time at work he was working-"

Annette caught her mistake when she saw Claire narrow her eyebrows in contemplation.

"Hey, Mommy. Do you like this dress?" Sherry returned holding a dress with flowers on it.

Annette thought that Sherry's arrival could not have better timing.

"This is not suitable for school. Stay with Aunt Claire while I get you another one." Annette gave Claire a look saying have fun. Claire could not help but smile back.

"Claire you are my auntie?" Sherry had a hopeful look on her face. Claire decided if she was going to bond with Sherry she might as well start now.

"Yes, I am " Claire patted Sherry on the head. "To make up for me not being here I am going to take you to zoo tomorrow." Claire poked Sherry in the nose before adding " if it is okay with your mom, of course."

"Thank you, Claire! You are the best aunt ever!" Sherry could not hold in her childish excitement. Claire thought Sherry could not get any cuter.

"Mom guess what ?!"

Annette barely returned from paying for a dress when she was assaulted from Sherry's question. Annette paused thinking something was wrong."What is it, Sherry?"

"Aunt Claire said she will take me to the zoo tomorrow if you say yes!"

"That is if she does not have school tomorrow." Claire added.

"Of course not by all means." Annette smiled when Sherry squealed. She may have not done a lot for her daughter. At least, she had planned for her daughter to have a stable future.

* * *

7 p.m

Claire decided to go to Emmy's to grab a bite to eat. She did not want to eat alone so she waited by her bike for her date. Minutes later she smiled when her friend showed up.

"Hi, Leon, I am glad you were free." Claire greeted the soon to be rookie cop, who was sporting a snug brown sweater and blue jeans.

"I could not have imagined spending my night any differently." He smiled at Claire's blush. He had to admit that Claire was beautiful even though she looked like a tomboy. Last night, she was definitely beautiful.

Claire liked the fact that Leon was so easy going. He made her feel like herself and appreciated.

Leon held out his arm for her to take, "Shall we?"

Claire giggled at his courteous display and took his arm. She thought he was a goof ball.

"Welcome to Emmy's. My name is Sarah. What would you like to drink?" The bored waitress asked smacking her gum like a cow.

"Can I have a coffee? What would you like Claire?" Leon asked softly.

"I would like a Sprite . " The waitress was writing the order down until Claire decided a coffee sounded better. "On the second thought, a coffee sounds lovely."

The waitress scratched up the order annoyed giving Claire a glare at her indecisiveness. "Anything else, while I am here?" She queried rather rudely.

"No, thank you." Leon being the typical guy replied oblivious to the rudeness.

Seconds later, the bell on top of the door chimed and Claire immediately wished she was at a different restaurant. Since she was sitting on the booth side facing the door, she was able to see Wesker walk in, and she quickly looked at Leon.

She wondered what she did in her nineteen years of life to have God punish her like this.

Leon saw the distressed look on Claire's face and looked behind him and saw Wesker. The older man did not notice them yet.

"Would you like me to say something?" Leon immediately wanted to protect Claire. He was still pissed off that Wesker made her cry last night. He promised himself that he would make it up to her.

"No, he has not caused any trouble so we should not cause a scene." Why did she have to see this man twice in a day?

It was quiet for a while and she noticed from the corner of her eye that Wesker could clearly see them. Claire gave Leon a pleading look to do something like talk to make the dinner not awkward. Then a song by Usher called "You make me wanna started playing." An idea must of came to Leon's mind because he was smiling at Claire, as though it was brilliant."

Leon got up from the table and stood in front of her "You know? I never got that dance with you last night. Would you care to dance?"

"Leon this is a restaurant. What would people think." Claire was a little embarrassed because the scene was quite odd, and now she was exposed to the whole restaurant.

"Who cares what they think. They just don't know how to live life." He gave her his charismatic grin and extended his hand out.

Fuck Wesker she was spending this evening with Leon!

They began to dance and Claire was having the time of her life. Her vivacious laughter perhaps made it across the diner. A bunch of guy patrons cat called at the pair.

At the end of the dance, she got pulled in front of Leon and he stared at her with his chocolate brown eyes. "Thank you ,Claire." He whispered to her while pushing her bangs away from her face.

The next thing she knew she was getting reverently kissed by Leon and she heard the door to the diner slam.

Leon broke the kiss as soon as her heard the noise. And Claire brought her hand to her warm lips suddenly feeling her cheeks turning red.

She did not know why she was feeling guilty when she sat back at the table, wondering what the hell was the matter with her? Leon was an awesome guy and she told herself that there was nothing between her and Wesker.

What would her friend Jaime do in this situation?

"Claire why don't you have sex with them both –"

Nope sex was definitely not an option.

She needed to sort out her feelings.

* * *

Jan 2nd 1998 8:30 am

Claire waited patiently for Sherry and Annette in the Raccoon Police Department Lobby. Some of the cops kept on asking her every five minutes if they could help her. She scoffed at their persistence. Chris had already started working 30 minutes ago and she felt it would not be best to bother him at work.

Claire wondered why Annette kept on insisting on meeting here. Sure this was the only place she was familiar with in town. Claire wouldn't mind trying to find Annette's place. Claire was starting to hate the police department because it was associated with one individual in particular. This was where he lurked. Lurking is a good term because he seems to be everywhere and Claire had a feeling that she would run into him before the day was over.

"Aunt Claire! " Sherry ran to Claire and hugged her smiling sweetly. Sherry had something hiding behind her back. "I have something for you."

"Oh?" Claire raised an eye brow giving Sherry a playful questioning look.

Sherry handed Claire a small object wrapped in tissue paper and it was a stained glass motorcycle with a silver C in the middle.

"Did you do this Sherry?" Claire asked in wonder.

"Sherry has the talent to do that." Annette smiled sadly because stained glass takes a while to do alone. "That's all Sherry worked on after the mall."

" Annette, I did not see you there ." Claire remarked and gave her a hug.

"It's okay Claire. I brought some papers I want you to look over ."

"Papers? " Claire wondered why she wanted look over papers.

"The ones we talked about yesterday." Annette looked at Sherry for emphasis.

Claire knew why she was being so secretive, because she did not want to bring up a sore subject in front of her daughter.

"Wow, that was faster than I thought." Claire commented while reading the details and looking for a spot to sign.

"Well, it also includes mine and Willam's will?"

"Your will? You mean he was okay with all of this?" Claire's voice almost squeaked from her shock. Claire thought they both were going overboard.

" Yes, he wholeheartedly agreed. I know you are going to protest when you read it ,Claire, but you deserve it. "

"There are a lot of things Ms. Redfield deserves." Claire's blood ran cold for it was like he was eaves- dropping on the whole entire conversation. There was a tinge of anger in his voice. Claire was wondering if he saw Leon kiss her.

"Wesker, what a surprise." Annette figured Wesker would have been in his office.

"Really, Annette it is not a surprise. Considering that I work here." Claire thought he was demeaning towards Annette but Annette did not seem phased.

"And here is the part where Sherry and I must be going." Claire walked off to get Sherry, but Sherry heard her name and ran over to Claire.

"Is it time to go, Claire?"

"Where are you going?" Wesker asked trying to deduce why Claire was hanging out with the younger Birkin.

"Claire was going to try and be as vague as possible. She wanted to tell him none of your damn business but Sherry was there. However, Sherry could not contain her excitement and blabbed their location.

"Aunt Claire is taking me to the zoo!"

_Damn it, Sherry. _So much for being discreet. Claire closed her eyes hoping that Wesker would not ruin her day.

"I think we need to hurry, Sherry. We really have to catch the bus." Claire walked away gently guiding Sherry out of the precinct. That was a nightmare.

* * *

9:30 a.m

Claire and Sherry were riding on the bus. Claire could not help but notice that the girl had a faraway look in her eye.

"Sherry, are you all right?" Sherry had been rather quiet on the bus ride

"Yes, I am good." Sherry looked at her hands and debated to tell Claire her next statement. She only knew Claire for a day, yet it seemed like she knew her forever. The thought caused her eyes to tear up. "I am glad you spend time with me; you are like the mom I never had."

Claire immediately frowned because she was uncomfortable with Sherry's declaration. "Sherry ,I am touched, but please don't let your mom hear that. She cares a lot more for you than you think." Sherry could not understand that her mother loved her. Since her parents were not around, she thought she was not loved.

"I just wish she took me to the zoo and did little things with me. All my parents do is buy me things, thinking it will make up to me." Sherry looked out the window thinking Claire did not understand.

Claire scooted a little closer to Sherry and embraced her, "I know it is hard to understand now, but your mom and dad do love you. You will see when you are older."

"Promise?" Sherry had a hopeful expression. All her life she had been let down. She wanted the assurance that everything will be okay.

"I promise. But for now, please promise me to have fun at the zoo." Claire told herself that she would tell Sherry everything when she was older. She did not want Sherry thinking this way not if Claire could help it.

"I promise to have loads of fun!" Sherry promised feeling more comforted.

As soon as Claire and Sherry got off the bus, Sherry ran towards the zoo gate.

Claire could not help but laugh at Sherry's eagerness until she saw a sunglass clad figure wearing a navy sweater and blackwash jeans approach her.

"Shouldn't you be at the S.T.A.R.S. office bossing Chris around?" Claire griped at the older man. How in the hell was he allowed to leave his office like this and get away with it? Then she remembered Irons was batshit scared of Wesker.

"No need for concern. They can perfectly handle themselves, Mrs. Redfield." Wesker reassured walking closer to greet her.

"My concern is why are you here, Wesker? I planned on spending the day with Sherry _alone_." Can the man take the hint that he was not wanted?

Wesker smirked at Claire thinking she said something amusing."Clearly, but you forgot one fact."

"What will that be?" Claire crossed his arms daring him to come up with a greater retort. This ought to be good.

"Your outing yesterday was acceptable since you were with Annette. Today you are unaccompanied with anyone. When I specifically requested that you must be chaperoned."

"If I recall, you said specifically I must be chaperoned at night." She countered thinking this was perhaps the lamest excuse he used to invite himself.

Claire walked away leaving him to try to come up with a better excuse. She approached Sherry standing by the gate.

"Was that uncle Albert?" Claire heard the wistful expression behind that question, and Claire mentally pleaded that Sherry forget about that man.

Claire nudged Sherry forward and took her to the ticket booth. "Yes, he was just leaving."

"Nu ugh, he is coming this way." Sherry answered back. Claire sighed and tried to control her temper.

Claire approached the ticket clerk at the kiosk. Seconds later, she felt a presence towering over her.

"How many?" The young girl asks.

"Three." Claire rolled her eyes and realized that there was no way to stop Wesker once he had his mind set on a goal. Claire closed her eyes and pulled her money to pay for the tickets when Wesker beat her to it.

"Claire, I thought you said he was leaving?" Sherry whispered.

"I did but it was to surprise you." Claire replied dejectedly. How could she tell an eleven year old that the man invited himself?

Sherry became more happy than possible. Now Claire had to be civil towards the captain to not upset the little girl.

Sherry was basically leading Wesker and Claire to each exhibit. Claire did not really pay attention to blond man standing beside her. She did notice other couples looking at both of them giving them happy looks. Clearly , other people thought they were a couple.

Wesker was being civil and commented on a lot of exhibits they visited. Claire thought he knew a lot of the biology of the animals. She wondered if he went to college because he had more knowledge than a cop would know. Surprisingly, she thought that the day was not that bad.

"Oh, let's go to the dog exhibit!" Sherry demanded and led the way.

Claire looked at the wolves and coyotes. To her they looked the same. She heard Wesker's heavy boots stop beside her.

"Do you know what is the difference between these two animals?" Wesker queried.

"Not really but from what I observe, wolves are larger and bulkier while coyotes are shorter, sleek and lighter on their feet."

"What an astute observation, Ms. Redfield, you would make a fine biologist one day." He mocked while staring at both dog exhibits clearly contemplating.

"Well enlighten me, Dr. Wesker. " Claire replied smartly figuring it was better to let him get whatever was bothering him off his chest.

"Very well."Wesker began ignoring the insult." Wolves are more aggressive since they are more wild than Coyotes. " Claire could tell Wesker debated whether to continue. "On the other hand coyotes form tightly knit packs." He looks directly into her eyes as he finishes. " It is said that a coyote's pack are one of the few creatures on this planet that mate for life. "

Claire felt more uncomfortable after that statement. Why the hell did he talk like this now? Why did he figure that this was important? She figured that she should stop over thinking things.

Claire waited by the trashcan near the food vender with Sherry while Wesker was getting them drinks. Claire had her arm crossed. To onlookers, it may have looked like she was waiting, but in reality she was pissed.

"Are you and Uncle Albert dating, Claire?" Sherry's soft voiced interrupted Claire's mantra of angry thoughts.

Claire's hot headedness would have snapped at the unfortunate person who made that statement, but Claire realized she had to be gentler with Sherry. "That is an outrageous question. What makes you say that?" Claire rubbed her face feeling exasperated.

"He has been staring at you the whole time we have been here." Sherry gave Claire a grin before running to Wesker, who was bringing them drinks.

* * *

5 pm

Claire could not believe what she was seeing. She thought she was dead. She did not know she was in the presence of this beauty. She was standing in front of a black McLaren F-1.

"Is there a problem with my car, Ms. Redfield?" Claire gave him an incredulous look and was going to question him. How on earth he could afford it with his salary? Not to mention, this car has not been released yet. She had to bite her tongue remembering this was Sherry's day.

Claire walked Sherry to her house door and was greeted by the nanny. Sherry gave Claire a hug and started tearing up. "Now Sherry, if you ever get lonely you can call me." She gave the little girl her cell number and her class schedule.

Claire felt like she was walking to her death by firing squad going to Wesker's car . It was not awkward with Sherry there because she had talked to her the whole time. Wesker probably noticed this fact.

"So you are Sherry's godmother?" Wesker asked dryly as he started driving.

"Considering how close you are to Dr. Birkin, I am surprised you are not her godfather?" Claire countered.

"I was, but I was unaware of the change until this morning." Claire could not understand how he can make serious situations lax by the lack of emotions in his voice. He reminded her of the terminator.

"Wait, you aren't anymore?" What was Annette playing at?

"The Birkins believe that you are more suitable to take care of their daughter. I guess they have taken a liking to you ,which does not surprise me." Wesker concluded.

Claire thought Wesker had a terrible habit of talking aloud to himself as though it helps him find answers to his questions. She looked at the car clock and saw that it was 6 and Chris would be off soon. She did not want to stay with this man any longer than necessary.

"Why did you agree to take care of a girl you barely know?" Wesker continued to badger her with questions.

"I think of her as a little sister, and someone has to be there for her before she is a teenager." Claire replied sadly thinking that if Annette and Birkin needed help with Sherry, she would gladly be there for the girl. This was perhaps the first honest answer she gave to Wesker without snapping at him.

"Considering how you turned out… " Wesker drawled with amusement laced in his voice.

"That's it!" Claire fumed and began pulling on the lock. Wesker knew what she was about to do and locked the car. The car had child safety locks so she was trapped. "Wesker, open this damn door before I break it."

"Not so fast, dearheart ,the night is still young. There is so much more that needs to be discussed." Wesker replied not at all phased at her threat.

"If you are going to criticize me, then I am going to leave." Claire crossed her arms in defiance angry that she was trapped in the car.

"I meant no offense. If you had allowed me to finish, you would have seen I was not ridiculing you." Wesker stated as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"That's a first since all you ever do is undermine people, Wesker ." Claire thought Wesker was quite the comedian not realizing that he is very much a hypocrite.

"Only those who need a sense of purpose, or how they say a reality check?" What made him a sage of advice?

"So everyone who associates with you needs a reality check? Has it occurred to you that you cannot change people's faults?"

"This is true but I think you are taking this out of context." The tone in his voice and his fingers gripping the steering wheel tightly, let Claire know that he was annoyed.

"This has everything to do with us! You criticize me and then you try and pry into my personal life."

"You assaulted me for calling you naïve"

"You are a pompous ass who thinks he can have his way!"

"I am still none the wiser." Claire almost deadpanned. He was so narcisstic that he did not believe he was wrong.

"Oh really? Let me put it this way. Why does a 38 year old want anything to do with a nineteen year old? In particular why are you interested in me? Do you see me as some horny college girl who would have her way with any man who has legs?"

His face was impassive. "That's what I thought" They were about to pass the precinct. "Dropping me off here is fine." She demanded flatly.

When they drove past the precint she gave him an baffled look. "What the hell Wesker! I told you to drop me off."It was like he was toying with her.

"I am not deaf ,Ms. Redfield. You do not have to tell me a second time." Wesker replied in a condescending tone.

"Well, I would not have said anything. If you actually did what I asked."

"You mean demanded."

"You are unbelievable!" Claire threw her hands in the air exasperated."What is this?"

They parked in front of an expensive looking Italian Restaurant.

"It's a restaurant." Wesker drawled.

"Clearly, why are we here?"

"I am hungry and you are too." Wesker replied stiffly so she could stop talking.

He got out of the car and opened her door and held his hand out for her to take.

"Who says I am hungry?" Claire swatted his hand in defiance. Her stomach gave her away and her face blushed.

She sighed and took his hand and he gently pulled her out of the car. He held the door open for her to go inside the restaurant.

The menu was expensive because the cheapest entrée was $40 wher as an appetizer was $15.

"Order whatever you want?"

"What you are paying for me?" Her teenage mind had no censor.

"It would not be a date otherwise? Wesker replied uninterested without looking away from his menu ,as if this was the most obvious thing in the word.

Claire was going to snap back until the waitress came, "So what are you two going to have? "

"I'll have a tea with the Asiago chicken."

"For you sir?"

"I'll have the Ribeye medium well with water."

After the waitress left, it was awkwardly quiet.

"Did you hear what I said earlier about the age gap?" Claire really wanted to know how this man worked.

"Clearly, if you so remember I told you I was not deaf."

"Why the hell do you still persist? I am not going to have sex with you, if that is what you are hoping for. In fact, I don't even like you."

"Since you asked me a question, let me ask you one"

"What is this twenty questions?" Claire asked sarcastically.

"If thinking that way pleases you. Now, I get two questions."

"Why did you decide to move back to Raccoon City, considering you were far away?

"Chris stresses a lot at work. If anything happened to me, then it will stress him out some more. I think I can still make a real difference in Raccoon City no matter the college."

"As for my other question , Why do you have such a poor opinion of me?"

"Are we really having this conversation? I thought I told you already , you are vile condescending, egotistical , and downright…..an asshole." She was running out of ideas and just had to throw that out there. "Why do you wear those things ? Why are you a S.T.A.R.S. captain if you clearly hate people?" Claire found herself blurting out.

"Well, Ms. Redfield, you already have a colorful image against my character. You lack skill in this game because you gave me two more questions . It is a shame you could not be more creative in your questions."

Claire was oblivious to the fact that she could of gotten Wesker to tell her why he kept on bugging her, but she lost her chance. Wesker smirked. "To answer your question," Wesker pushed his sunglasses further up the bridge of his nose. It helps keep an intimidating image of a S.T.A.R.S captain."

Claire had to admit he was right. Looking at him without the glasses was not intimidating. Unless, he somehow had hellish red eyes...

"As to your second question, Claire, I like you wanted to make a real difference. There is countless greed and deceit that exist everywhere leaving countless of deaths and injuries in its wake. Knowing the cause would naturally make one want to make sure it stops. Imagine how perfect a world like this would be if there was peace."

"A world where people are happy?" Claire began pensively trying to process the idea. "That is impossible. We are only human and it is in our nature to feel those things. We would be emotionless puppets. Besides, it would require a genocide. I don't think 6 billion deaths justify the beginning of a new world. Those deaths will inspire revenge somewhere and there is a cycle of hate. For such a world, there must be a king and even kings fall."

"But what if that person was a god." Wesker challenged.

Claire could not help but scoff. "Such an idea is foolhardy for no one can live forever. Look at Alexander the great. He was considered a god and yet he died by his own mortality. And don't get me started on Hitler. What I am trying to say is that there is always one person stronger than another in this world. What I want to understand is why does someone think like that? Are they not satisfied with what they have? Or does having control over other people lives make them feel better? Taking over the world is just wrong because so much innocence gets destroyed in the process. "

Claire was left with her own thoughts the rest of the dinner. She did not notice that Wesker was quiet throughout the whole dinner either.

* * *

Claire and Wesker was standing outside of Emmy's. Claire was willing to walk back if it meant getting away from the older man.

"When you go back to college, can I keep your correspondence?"

"You want to keep in touch?"

"Yes."

"…I don't know Wesker." Claire did not think associating with him was a good idea. How does one tell a stalker to go away?

"Why not?" Wesker appeared offended.

"I don't really feel comfortable with all this. " Wesker was a creep.

"It's Mr. Kennedy isn't it." Wesker replied flatly.

"Wha- no Leon has nothing to do with this."

"I can see no other possible explanation, since you both were into each other last night?"

"So it was you who stormed off." For some reason, she found the situation funny.

"Are you so cynical to have your way with one guy and then come crawling to another?" Wesker seethed at Claire's behavior.

"No, I am not a slut Wesker! Leon, you and, I are not a couple. I have the right to have dinner with anyone I want to."

"Please, tell me why you decided to go on a date with him, when I asked you to let me know when you were free so I could take you out?"

"It was not a date! It was a dinner between friends." Claire defended. Why should she justify her actions when she did nothing wrong?

"You just met Mr. Kennedy at the ball-"

"Well excuse me, Wesker, if I wanted to plan to spend a whole day with you when I had nothing planned, but no you had to invite yourself to this little thing I had planned with Sherry. Now, I don't think I can trust you." She did not think Wesker would go overboard and force her to do his bidding.

"You think I am trying to take advantage of you?" He asked softly.

He asked the question she had debated this whole time since they met. Coming from his mouth made it crystal clear why she was so scared of the man. She looked at the ground and her silence was his only confirmation.

He walked up to her and put a stay lock of red hair behind her ear. He placed a hand under her chin and tilted her head up to look into her eyes. "It never was my intention to come off that way. If I was going to take advantage of you, I would have done so already."

This was perhaps the closest to an apology that she would get from that man. She realized all of her fears had been laid to rest so now she had nothing against him."So what now? Where do we go from here?" She now knew she had felt something for Wesker. If that was not the case, why did she feel guilty kissing Leon?

"Well dearheart, the rest is up to you. Just a fair warning, I am a rather possessive man. Once you are mine then I will not let you go."

* * *

Next: Albert Wesker

What will Claire decide?

In the next Chapter we will see Claire's departure and two Character deaths. A lot of Wesker's motivation will be revealed in the next chapter. I purposely left his responses open ended because a lot of this story is in Claire's point of view and they subtly shift. It will be explained why this is the case. Remember this is Simmon's reading the manuscript now so there is the hint if the story is confusing.

Next update maybe tomorrow or the end of this week depends how much I type people bug me.

Axel: I am glad you like story. It takes a lot of time to put this together.

Admiralsarah: Thanks for reviewing every chapter it means a lot knowing this story is being read. Hope you like this chapter.

arcanebasswitch: I am glad you like the story so far. I have to say your story is great as well!.

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	5. Prequel: Departing

AN-Hey guys. Sorry this took so long. I was seriously debating whether or not to continue this story after this chapter since there really has not been much feedback at all for this story. I really don't want to waste your time and my time if this story sucks.

Anyhoo, here is the last of the prequel! I planned on ending it here anyway for the prequel, but it could also be continued (I originally planned between 50-100 chapters), but if you don't like this, then it'll be the end.

I knew Wesker was out of character a little, but this chapter puts him back and shows the change in character.

Thanks to those of you who have been favoriting, following, reading, reviewing,etc.

* * *

"Do you really have to leave?"

"I promised. The people I love, are waiting."

"...I don't understand.

"Not at all. But...please take care of yourself."

"Of course...I'll come back to you. Even if you don't promise to wait.

"I'll return knowing you'll be here."

Final act Loveless Final fantasy VII

* * *

_Note: Excerpts were taken from the Journal of Albert Wesker_

_December 19,1997 _

_Today was rather odd. First, I received a lab report from my employers and then I met a peculiar girl named Claire Redfield._

_Umbrella thought I did not notice, but I had. Lately, there have been a lack of lab reports being sent to me. It happened gradually over time. First, I was tasked to look over hundreds, then a hundred, to fifty, until ultimately they dwindled down. _

_The one that I had gotten today was the first in months. Apparently, they have managed to stabilize the T-Virus in reptiles when incorporated into a human embryo. These BOW's are easy to manufacture and researchers have already started to obtain combat data on these creatures. I wondered why they waited to send me a report after so many months? Perhaps, I should ask William to see if he observed any strange behavior from Umbrella. As I was getting ready to sign said report, a loud noise from outside of my office made my hand shift across the page leaving a huge pen stroke._

_I walked out of my office to see what the hell those buffoons were doing. I chastised them and to my satisfaction, all my employees stiffened, except Redfield and Speyer who were on top of each other. I immediately rectified the unacceptable behavior. I also felt the need to remind them that they should not underestimate me. Speaking of which, they have become too hard headed lately. I needed to come up with a new form of punishment that will make them so embarrassed that they would not want to show their faces in the department. I have heard of a particular children's program called the Teletubbies. I would definitely look into it._

_I noticed Redfield kept on looking at the weapons cabinet. Why was Redfield a damn good marksman but an idiot with a short attention span? I could not fathom how this was possible, and I told him that he should see a doctor to which he jumped slightly and continued to look at the cabinet. I immediately became suspicious of another prank planned against me and decided to investigate._

_As soon as I opened the door, a figure with long red hair fell out. Hearing a gasp made me realize that it was a girl and I instinctively caught her. She looked at me with her blue eyes . The longer she continued looking at me, it was like she was seeing through me. For some reason I felt threatened, and I hurriedly placed her down to cease contact._

_Then Mr. Spyer made some asinine comment of how I should kiss her. Redfield snaps revealing that the girl was his sister. I observed her and could see some resemblance with the nose and facial structure. I wondered if stupidity was a common trait which ran in the Redfield family because she was in a weapons cabinet. _

_I gave Mr. Spyer night duty and was irritated after Forest had the audacity to look at me as though I had spoken a foreign language. How hard was it to understand that he had night duty?_

_The redhead continued to stare at me. I wondered if her hormones were making her fawn all over me like every estrogen filled women in this cesspool of a building. If this was the case, then I would not even bother with the girl._

_Christopher interrupted my deduction and introduced me to his redheaded sister . When I first heard her name I found it rather unique, but now that I reflect upon the name. It was a rather befitting name for her, since I found her bright in dangerous situations._

_I held out my hand for her to shake and her hand reached forward to grab mine._

"_It is a pleasure to meet you Captain Wesker. Her voice sounded like honey. "Please, don't ever insult my brother's intelligence again. He is the only brother I have to take care of."_

_When she missed my hand, I thought she had a balance issue until I felt a sting on my face.I was in disbelief to what happened and had to put my hand on my jawbone to actually register that I had been slapped. The girl clearly had some backbone to assault a guy she had not even met, needless to say her brother's boss._

_Never had I been assaulted by any one regardless to say a girl. At some point, I ended up calling her ",Dearheart." "Dearheart." That was an interesting name. I wondered what possessed me to call her that? It clearly fitted the readhead for some reason. The only pleasure I received from this whole exchange was distressing my colleagues. In a normal situation, I would have threatened the girl or even insult her. I did call her "little girl". So I did insult her some, I suppose. Ah, the S.T.A.R.S members probably thought I had gone mad which would explain why they left me alone the whole day. _

_I was able to return to my office in peace, but for some reasons I could not take my eyes off the redhead. _

_After work, I got some coffee from Lucy's. I decided it was time to head back to my cruiser which was a block away from the precinct. I must have walked a few feet when I saw a woman running. I knew that in a couple of seconds the woman would pathetically scream for help. A common trait shared by most woman. Unless they were a member of S.T.A.R.S., that behavior is trained out of them. _

_The girl got cornered. Clearly she is able to think with a level head . Her moves are premeditated until she was trapped . I started walking slowly in her direction to cover distance to get ready to help the girl as soon as her assailants started something. She kneed one man in the genital area and she must of sprayed the other man with capsacin by the way he was clawing his eyes out. She ran and put some distance between her assailants until she was trapped again. The more the girl fought back, the more I admired her._

_My pace quickened into a run when I see the gun. When the girl threatened her attacker, I thought her voice was eerily familiar. The gunshot echoed into the night and the smell of gunpowder saturated the air. When the girl stumbled backwards , she was grabbed from behind and spat at the man in front of her to antagonize him._

_The attacker cursed and pulled his hand back to strike her. When I saw the redhair and processed the voice I heard earlier , it turned out the girl I was admiring was Claire Redfield. I decided to step in to not let any further harm befall her. _

_I do not know what happened to me because the thought of any harm coming towards the younger Redfield really pissed me off. The rest of the fight was a blur because the thugs were ignorant cretins with no sense of strategy . _

_I approached the girl and paused wondering to let the redhead get up on her own. I have never been so confused in my entire life. I put all thoughts aside and helped her up, but as soon as I grabbed her hand, I wanted to do something else but could not decide what to do. _

_The sound of heavy metal broke us out of our thoughts. I felt the need to chastise her for being so reckless. She said the gun was for Christopher and had the nerve to look away after I am trying to knock some sense into her head. I take off my glasses for the first time at night, thinking that it would help her realize how serious I am. I could see shock in her face and her eyes were a more vibrant blue. For some reason, I had to have her promise to never go out alone at night ever again. Why did I even care?_

"_Did you kill that man?" She questioned. Even after all this time, she cared for the man who attacked her . I was the one who saved her and she did not have the decency to ask if I was alright. I took my anger out on the man in question by kicking him. The walk back was silent not that I cared, because I was used to solitude. I watched red hair flow into the wind and I felt tempted to reach out to touch it to see if it was soft. After some time, we reached the station and I see that she has a motorcycle. This girl was definitely reckless and before she left I told her to be careful ._

_As I am writing this entry, I could not help to look at my past entries. I see those entries are filled with Umbrella and my venting about the idiocy of the S.T.A.R.S. members. I am still non the wiser about my actions today. There is something about Claire Redfield that is making me out of character, and my lack of comprehension will drive me mad._

* * *

_January 1__st, __1998_

_I think something is wrong with me or there is something happening to my mental faculties._

_I never go to social events unless they benefit me. _

_Last night was no exception. I went to the ball that the city was throwing to find answers. The last couple of weeks had been torture, since a certain redhead popped up uninvited into my mind, and I kept on asking myself why? Maybe she would be useful to me in the near future, as I could use her as leverage against Christopher, but for some reason I was not satisfied with that answer. _

_I kept to the shadows glaring at this enigma which plagued my thoughts. When she left the foodbar, I moved as well to reveal my hiding spot .That was until she collided with a younger man. I could not help but laugh when she got ready to tell the brunette off. Suddenly, I felt anger build up inside me when she smiled at the rookie cop. Why was I angry? Was it because she was not genuinely smiling at me? When she talked to Kennedy, she was relaxed and carefree as if this was natural for her. She was different around me as though she was nervous or distant. I had enough and I wanted to stop this disgusting scene before it persisted._

_I got closer and to my displeasure the pig Irons showed up. The same Irons who was the sad excuse for a human being. He was not fit to be in Claire's presence more or less breathe the same air. Claire was smart enough to evade him, but the disgusting swine grabbed her arm._

_Then Kennedy tried to waste my time by deciding to dance with her. I did not let him because she was going to stick with me, until I figured out what she was doing to me. _

_As soon as I showed up, the disgusting worm Irons squealed and try and make excuses. As soon as he let go of Claire, I wanted to cut his arm off._

_The younger Redfield had a gift into getting into my head like her older brother. The more she questioned my nonexistent motive with her, the more I became angry. I was not sure why I was dragging her around. Then when she threatened to leave, I almost lost it. I felt if she left at that moment then I would be forever be ignorant of why I was so mesmerized with her. She had some weird power over me and I wanted it to end. _

_The girl surprised me when she was being oddly complaint when I coerced her to dance . We must have danced 5 songs and I still could not get my answer. The longer I stared at her face my chest felt uncomfortable when she lightly touched my hand. I actually liked the soft caress. I teased her when she stared at my face to try and get her to reveal her secrets, but I was getting frustrated by this huge growing black hole of unanswered questions. My eyes eventually focused on her red lips which looked so inviting, and I leaned forward debating whether to have a taste._

_I was shocked when the redhead made the first move. She was gentle at first because of her lack of experience and then she became more bold and bit my lip. That was when I lost it and wanted to claim her mouth. The idea of her dominating me was unacceptable. I clasped the back of her head to try and show that I was control._

_All of a sudden, she apologized and I wondered why did she find the need to apologize? She became insecure and brought up the age gap, and I could not help but frown when she started crying. Normally, I would berate someone and tell them they were in public but with her it was different. Yet again, I was at a loss of what to do. She tried getting away from my grasp because she thought I was pissed off at her, but in actuality, I wanted her more now than ever. _

_She told me that she did not love me, but the whole idea of what she wanted scared her. I let her go allowing her some room to compose herself. I decided to find her later and show her that I was not the monster that she thought I was, at least to her anyway._

_I could clearly see that she was in a corner and to my surprise Annette Birkin comforted her. Annette was not one to normally walk up to people she don't know and offer comfort. I wondered what changed. I saw William in the distance staring at the two ladies. And then the bane of my existence appears , Leon Kennedy. I was going to get Claire before Leon sunk his claws into her._

"_Wesker did this didn't he?" Hearing those words coming from the young cop made me want to tear out his vocal chords and feed it to the buzzards . I mentally threatened Kennedy to watch his place, if he did not want to end up as a test subject for an experimental virus._

_Birkin was being annoying as usual with his incessant questioning ,which prevented me from getting Claire away from Kennedy. The whole conversation itself was interesting because it gave me an idea what Umbrella was up to._

"_Birkin, if you do not mind I would really like to have a word with-" _

"_Moi? Why did you not say so." Birkin grabbed my arm and looked at Claire. I wanted to strangle Birkin for allowing Claire to be in longer contact with Kennedy._

"_Birkin was that really necessary? I hope you know this had better be damned important otherwise I may end up killing you when you least expect it." I was serious. If I lost Claire to Leon, I would give Birkin a slow and painful death._

_William grinned goofily at me as if he knew something. That grin reminded me of the one time he guessed the death of the scientist on the third floor for betraying Umbrella . It happened exactly three days later._

"_Fine , since you are so kind to ask, let's talk about me then you. Umbrella wants me to develop a new virus." Birkin looked at me expecting my reaction._

"_What else is new?"_

"_They gave me a deadline, Al. I have six months." If they gave Birkin a deadline then they will decide that my usefulness was running out, as well, since Birkin and I have witnessed almost all Umbrella's dark secrets._

"_It seems like they are getting tired of us. I wonder what the old man is planning." I confessed my thought outloud to Birkin._

"_I already have a backup plan but I'll tell you later." There was a mutual understanding between us that someone from Umbrella maybe listening or watching us._

"_As for you, a redhead huh? They say that red heads have fiery tempers. I would not know because I am satisfied by my dear Annette. " Birkin looks at his wife with fondness. _

"_Do you have anything else to say?I really must be going,Birkin."_

"_Not at all, and Wesker decide what you are going to do with this one. You see Annette. She looks happy for the first time in her life. You know how Annette is. This redhead may be the perfect girl for you . Looks like she makes friends everywhere," Birkin smirked when he saw Leon kiss Claire on the forehead and walked away to collect his wife. I wanted to throw Kennedy in a fiery furnace and take him back out just so he can die a thousand more times._

_My anger was short lived at Kennedy when I saw some men watching the Birkins leave and then they turned their attention to Claire's and my direction. One of them took a picture in our direction. If there were moles for Umbrella present, then they would share their information to their masters. None of us would be safe starting tomorrow, including Claire. She definitely could not be left alone knowing the danger she was in. If Claire was left alone at this party, then she would be approached by one of these moles and reveal too much about herself. _

_I grabbed her arm despite her protests to lose the throngs of people stalking us. I found a long line of people waiting for something. Apparently, Ms. Redfield informed me that we were waiting at a photobooth. This was not my intention to take her here, but I could not tell her that we were being followed. It would require me to reveal so much about myself. Her fiery temper was fueling my own when she relentlessly questioned to why I was dragging around. I counter her statement, knowing that by treating her a little roughly I could protect her without saying why._

_At that point, I wondered why I even bothered if the girl did not even like me. I started asking her questions so I could start finding my answers. All I got so far was the fact that she was an indecisive hormonal teenager._

_I played her game and wanted to know whether I should leave, since the threat was gone .What was she to me anyway? How was I benefiting at all? I started to realize that I was not benefitting at all except getting a higher dose of high blood pressure. Then the girl admitted that she wanted to know Kennedy better, and I knew at that moment that I would not let that happen ,if I had anything to do with it._

_Ultimately, I somehow coerced her into going to dinner with me. I would show her why Kennedy was a horrible fit for her. It would be perfect revenge against the rookie cop for poisoning the redhead's mind against me._

_This whole entire situation was interesting. I cannot deduce how this whole entire situation will pan out but Claire Redfield will stop her mind games with me._

* * *

_Jan 2nd, 1998 _

_I realize that I did not conclude my latest diary entry with yesterday evening's activities. To be perfectly honest, I would have destroyed this journal by the sheer force of my anger or bleed holes through the pages. I felt as though I was seeing red and if it was possible, I could have burned this journal by glaring at it. _

_That horrific scene, which I had witnessed at the sorry excuse for a diner, set me off edge and I stormed off to the Underground Facility at the police station. I locked myself in one of the cells which contained some test subject that were zombies, since inanimate corpses would not be missed if I ended their existence._

_After I expired these BOW's, I went into the next cell and did the same as the one previous. I walked out after I exhausted all of my shooting targets to see Birkin. _

_I remember Birkin whistled and guessed my frustration, "Kennedy happened." Then Birkin had a smug grin that I wanted to tear off. Birkin knew that my fuse was short._

"_Aww, is poor Wesker upset that his girl is taken?" Birkin's questioned in a childish voice. _

_She is not my girl. I aimed my gun between Birkin's eyes to let him know he was standing on thin ice. I was at that point where I would shoot him. _

"_Go ahead, Wesker, just admit it you are jealous. "_

"_I swear, Birkin, I will shoot." Birkin must have a death wish to antagonize me. What the hell did he know anyway? I would not give up all of my research and plans up for some girl._

"_Shoot me and you admit you are too weak to own up to your feelings." If I shot Birkin, then it would mean I was weak and I was childish._

_I pulled the barrel back of the gun and Birkin smirked and went back to looking into his microscope. A gunshot echoed across the room and Birkin looked at me incredulously. _

"_Hey, that was important !"Birkin wined as he examined the revolving nosepiece hanging by a thin wire that had fallen onto the stage of the microscope._

"_I told you to don't test my patience, William." I pocketed my gun and lookd at the mess that I made in the holding cells. There was blood everywhere and I was surprised that I had calmed down._

"_That Redfield is an interesting girl. " Birkin crossed his arms in contemplation. "She seems to be coming up a lot lately. And events that do not concern her keep getting under your skin." Birkin laughed amusedly to himself. " Now, she somehow wormed her way into my life as well."_

"_What are you blabbering about?" I wondered why he felt the need to tell me this because it was a waste of time._

"_Annette spoke with me last night. Actually ran into the lab with legal papers in regards to Sherry's guardianship, if anything happens to us. Al, I know you said you would watch Sherry as a friend but after talking with Annette. She informed me that Claire was willing to look after Sherry and as consequence, I am revoking your guardianship. "_

"_You just met the girl and you are giving her guardianship over your daughter. How can you even trust her?" Birkin was an idiot._

_"I trust her because you trust her. Or is that not the case? Why else do you put up with her? Sherry will be out of Umbrella's hands and you get what you wanted. Live alone to continue your research. Wesker, I need to ask you a honest question. After you achieve whatever you want to in this life, what next? Are you just going to live out your days alone with nothing to carry on your legacy. I have heard it is rather lonely at the top."_

_I later found myself in the precinct lobby delivering paperwork, knowing full well that a certain Redfield would be sitting there. I glared in her direction thinking of Birkin's words.I don't need her or anyone. I did not exactly trust her but everyone else seem to throw their trust at her. _

_She had a frequent habit of visiting the precinct lately, perhaps, to see Sherry. Soon enough, little Sherry runs over to the Redhead. Suddenly, I felt rather uncomfortable of seeing the Redhead with that young girl. My mind immediately conjured images of Sherry turning into a mini Claire Redfield and that I secretly hoped that Sherry would never be subjected to Claire's antics. Sherry was destined for greatness and she should not be brought down by a outspoken teenager._

_Annette showed up and said something about a will that the redhead is entitled to some of the contents, because she was deserving. What that girl deserved was to be locked up for getting into my thoughts and mind. She needed to be eliminated. _

_Sherry said something about herself and the younger Redfield going to the zoo alone. The redhead was a magnet for trouble since Umbrella should know about her by now. If anything happened to Sherry, I know Birkin would never forgive himself. I thought it best accompany the girls. I sat back in my office desk contemplating and I realized that I was actually worried about Claire's safety._

_The redhead was not happy to see me there not that I cared. All I cared was preventing a bullet to go through her head . Oh, how Chris would cry seeing his poor sister die. Before I met the girl, Claire was all Christopher would ever talk about unwarranted. _

_The girl was smart. A college education suited her. She had at least asked me some principle biology questions ,after I made some comments seeing she was interested. Then we are dragged to a coyote exhibit and I started telling her the difference between coyotes and wolves ,until I realized what about the girl that was bugging me. I actually liked Claire and thought she was worthy to be in my presence. This was the only girl I could actually see myself with because she was not like other girls. She was not winey, but bold. She knew what she wanted and hated people who took advantage of her. One thing however was that she was very loyal and formed strong bonds of attachment. I saw the looks she gave to Sherry, a young girl she had met and I cannot discern that look. Is it fondness laced with care? I don't know because all I wanted was her to look at me that way. I would do everything in my power to make that reality exist._

_She was not stupid she knew I was interested in her by now when I dragged her to dinner. Oh, how the tides had changed . Originally, I just wanted her to hate Kennedy just to spite him, and I did not care what she did with the rest of her life. Now, I wanted her to form some sort of attachment with me so the Wesker name could live on the more I talked with her. It was interesting that she wanted to make a real difference to change the world just like myself. I wondered if it was possible to change the world through science and conditioning to stop all of the needless deaths and corruption . Claire was adamant that such a world could not exist but I believed otherwise. I believed I will give Claire a chance to change the world ,and if she failed then I would step up to the plate and show her that the world would change. This world needed to change and if it did not, then I would do something about it. She would be my queen in this new world. She almost talked me out of my plans but then I realized that it would change who I was. One thing you need to realize, Claire, is that I do not change for anyone._

_When dinner ended I wanted to make sure she was around more, but Claire was having reservations. I thought it was because that damn Kennedy bested me to which the unfortunate cop will find himself in a tragic accident, but my dear assured me that was not the case. It turned out she had feelings for me, but she was scared of me taking advantage over her and using her. When I assured her that I would not, she seemed to relax and the possibility our relationship came up._

_"So what now? Where do we go from here?" She asked timidly. _

_"Well dearheart, the rest is up to you. Just a fair warning, I am a rather possessive man. Once you are mine then I will not let you go." I meant every word. Once she declared herself to me I would make sure she will never leave my sight._

_She looked at me, trying to gauge the seriousness of my words. I did not break eye contact with her showing her the dark promise of what could be. Claire leaned forward and I kissed her ardently and was disappointed when she pulled away. She turned her back to me. I stand at the spot where she left me, wondering what she is planning. _

_Finally, after what seemed like forever, she smiled at me. "Just give me a couple of months to adjust and think about where I want this to go before I give you my answer. "_

_That's okay ,Claire. You may have made the first move, but I can wait, since I am a patient man after all. I feel that my life is about to change in an interesting direction. _

* * *

May 17th 1998 7:30 a.m

It was a typical morning for Jill Valentine. She got up promptly at 6:30 a.m to get ready for work. The problem was nothing seemed to go right. She couldn't find her brush that she had sworn was left out the previous night. Not to mention, her favorite pants tore near the crotch area. Now, she had to buy a new pair when she got off work.

To make matters worse, the coffee shop had a line of cars curving around the building. Jill decided to park and get the coffee, since it was faster. To her luck, the cashier was training, who did not even know how to work the register. It took 15 whole minutes to get the S.T.A.R.S office's coffee. As she was pulling out of the intersection, she almost hit a red mustang while running over a black cat that had crossed the road.

Time seemed to be not on her side, as she arrived to work at 7:50 when she normally got there at 7:30 a.m. It was her style to get to work at least 30 minutes early. Today, she was only early by ten minutes. She glared at the offending clock that was reminding her she was late, while pulling the keys out of her Ford's ignition. She looked in the mirror to fix her hat. After her hat was fitted to perfection, she walked into the S.T. A.R.S office.

When she went inside the office, she could immediately tell something was wrong. Light was breaking through the blinds of the captain's office. Wesker never came into to work until promptly 8'oclock. She bit her lower lip as she pulled her chair from her desk to sit down reading the _Raccoon Times_.

Obnoxious talking could be heard from outside of the S.T.A.R.S office. Moments later Chris, Barry, and Brad plowed into the office bringing in their rowdiness.

"Hey, Jill. How was your weekend?" Chris asked after taking a bite of his donut. He closed his eyes in delight .The bite was almost as good as…He shook his head after getting his mind out of the gutter.

Jill gave Chris a look of disgust., "It is not good to talk with your mouth full"

"Who is there to judge?You should be used to it by now." Chris gave her a huge grin.

"Honestly , there is too mush testosterone in this office for my taste." Jill scoffed and returned looking at the paper.

"Is Wesker here?" Barry took a glance at Wesker's door while cleaning his gun.

"He is probably up to no good trying to find out how to make my life a living hell." Chris said through gritted teeth while squeezing his stress ball.

"Chris, he is not out to get you." Jill reasoned without looking up.

Chris's head shot up in confusion. "Oh yeah? How about the one time he made me talk to the houseowner who owned a pitbull ring? I almost had my arm chewed off." Chris shuddered at the memory. One of the dogs were rabid and he needed a rabies shot on his butt.

"Well, that was just a coincidence-" Jill needed more evidence than Chris could provide.

"God, Jill what will I have to say to make you see reason? I'll give you another incident. Do you remember the one time Forest brought the live chicken to put in Wesker's desk." When Jill nodded, Chris continued his explanation "Well the chicken crapped everywhere and Wesker thought it was my doing and made me clean the whole office with a tooth brush. I remember like it was yesterday." Chris cleared his voice and held his nose to try and ready his voice an octave higher." Redfield I think you have been away from the Armed Forces for too long and you need a reminder. I want every square foot of this office clean and there better not be any shit anywhere, because I have nothing else better to do than make people's lives miserable."

Brad and Barry busted out laughing at Chris's impression of Wesker until they heard rumbling in the Captain's office. Every male S.T.A.R.S member present were crawling over each other to return to their desks.

Seconds later, Albert Wesker walked out of his office and glared at all of his staff. "I expect none of you to bother me today. If one of you even thinks about bothering me, you will regret being born. The only time I want to be bothered is if one of you are close to dying. Now, excuse me while I take care of some damage caused by one of your colleagues. " He informs them while narrowing his eyes at the room's occupants. Wesker did not know why he continued to work with a bunch of morons. Even working for Umbrella was getting dull since they quit sending him information in regards to the company. He was considering getting a career change.

Chris had his arms crossed while rubbing his chin with his thumb and index finger. He spoke outloud without thinking. "Who?"

Wesker rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses. He was not surprised by this question coming from the thickheaded Redfield. "Well, Redfield, use your head for once. Who is not here?" Wesker rubbed the bridge of his nose because he was wasting time with these idiots.

Jill looked around and noticed there were only four people in the office. There were two people missing."Where is Joseph and Forest."

Wesker released a frustrated sigh. Finally, someone with common sense. He always respected Jill because she was the not so hopeless member of the team.

"Thank you for that assessment, Ms. Valentine. Mr. Spyer is perhaps normally late as usual. As for Mr. Frost, he indirectly gave us his permanent resignation. Finish reading the paper you have in your hand." Wesker stormed out of the office slamming the door behind him which caused the blinds to shake from the impact.

Jill found the headline that she stopped at moments before T**owers Window Destroyed by Drunk Man **and started to peruse it .

"Oh Joseph, you are an idiot." Jill placed the newspaper on her desk and started working on her report.

Chris hurried and picked up the paper with Brad and Barry reading over his shoulder.

"Are you serious." Chris became bummed because Joseph was one of his best friends. He was a lousy poker player and he owed Chris $500. Chris sat back on his desk debating whether to take the rest of the day off .

Barry gave Chris a comforting pat on the shoulder. He knew that Chris was upset.

"Thanks, Barry."Chris mumbled

Forest walked in and noticed the S.T.A.R.S members had a solemn expressions on their faces. He believed that the S.T.A.R.S. office reeked of anxiety. Usually, this only happened when Wesker was in a foul mood. His concerns were answered when the captain stormed back in the room letting the door slam behind him. The blinds fell off the door not being able to handle that much force a second time.

Forest coughed "Asshole" as Wesker walked by while Chris and Brad held in their laughter. Jill held her breath nervously hoping that Wesker did not hear.

"That was a close one, Forest. " Jill looked at Forest like he was an idiot, as soon as Wesker returned in his office."

"What has Wesker all worked up?" Forest jumped on Chris's desk taking the stress ball out of Chris's hand and started throwing it in the air. He could easily see the sullen look on Chris's face.

"Did you hear what happened to Joseph?" Chris answered. Talking about Joseph's death aloud made him feel a little better.

"No?" Forest looked around the office and noticed everyone looked anxious.

"Well, Jospeh died." Forest stared at Chris thinking this was all a practical joke. Chris's poker face was priceless.

"Hahah, you got to be fucking joking." Forest busted out laughing . He continued for a couple of seconds until he saw that Chris's expression did not change, except now he looked more pissed. His laughter died down then stopped. "You aren't joking. What the hell happened?" Forest could not understand how Joseph would die.

"Apparently, he was drunk at the government center last night . He was with a group of his buddies talking about how strong the windows were. He ran at it fifteen times to prove his point before the window broke and he plummeted to his death." Barry decided that Chris should not talk about Joseph's death to protect his friend.

"Well, Chris, I got something to cheer you up," Forest began knowing his suggestion will work.

"What do you have in mind?"Chris perked up a little.

"Let us go to the shooting range and beat each other's records."

"You are on." Chris could blow off some steam and gloat at Forest when he beats his record again.

"Mr. Speyer a word." Every S.T.A.R.S. member flinched at Wesker's command wondering when he opened his door.

"Shit," Forest cursed under his breath.

* * *

11 am

The rest of the S.T.A.R.S members continued their routine as normal. It was quiet without two members of the team. Everyone was in the zone of their work , until they heard the blinds of the door slide across the floor.

"Damn" Chris cursed after typing a line of "oooooooo's" on the document.

"What the heck are you keeping behind the door." Claire looked around and at the door window. "What happened to the blinds?"

"You just pushed the blinds to the corner of the room." Chris put his elbows on his desk and supported his head with his hands. "What are you up to, Claire?"

"Can't your little sister visit her big brother at work?" Claire pouted and looked at the container she was holding. "And to think, I wanted to bring some cookies over for the office." Claire gave Chris a sly grin knowing his reaction.

Chris's glum expression did not change and Claire began to worry because cookies usually cheered him up. The reaction of his collegues were interesting too. "Who died?

Barry and Jill flinched at Claire's choice of words. They anxiously watched Chris's reaction."Jospeh did."

"Oh see this must be a bad time," Claire's replied. "Here are some cookies and I guess I'll see you later?"

"No, No, you can stay." Chris apologized and then his face sported a frown. "Claire, usually made cookies when she was up to something. Claire placed a container of cookies on Chris's desk and Chris wondered why Claire was holding a second container of cookies.

The captain's door flew open and Forest had a faraway look in his eye, as if he went to hell and back.

Claire saw Forest about to close the office door and Chris realized what Claire was going to do when she walked up. "Claire, I don't think that is a good idea. The Captain does not want to be bothered right now."

"Ms. Redfield." Wesker greeted and opened the door to let Claire in and closed the door behind them.

"What the hell is going on between them and what happened to you, Forest? Chris wanted to know what was going on between Wesker and his sister. Now that he thought about it, Claire had been around a lot. He was going to have a word with her today.

Forest did not answer Chris immediately. He sunk down in his chair and realized that he had been in Wesker's office for more than an hour. And he started mumbling to let his frustration out.

"We cannot hear a word you are saying, Forest." Chris, Jill, and Barry walked up together and surrounded Forest to hear him better.

"With Joseph's death, we are left without a vehicle specialist. Wesker explained how there was no need for two marksman for S.T.A.R.S Alpha team, and if I wanted to stay I had to change job titles." Forest turned pale when he came a realization. "Ah fuck, this means I have to be more responsible.

* * *

7pm

"Why was Christopher so adamant for you to go with him today?" Wesker was evenly matching Claire's pace as they were walking along the river walk.

"Chris kidnapped me for lunch." Claire laughed softly to herself before continuing . "He says I should stay away from you because you are not good for me."

"And what is your opinion?" Wesker was clearly amused because Chris was an ignorant twat who could not prevent him from getting what he wanted.

"I am a big girl and could take care of myself." Claire smiled when she saw the look of approval on his face. She thought she rather liked this look because it made his face look a smidge softer. " I have been thinking Wesker."

Wesker nodded to acknowledge that he was listening.

"After I come back from England, I want to tell you something." Claire bit her lip nervously wondering if it was best to tell him now to get it over with.

"Why can't you tell me know?" The blond was mildly curious to know what was on the redhead's mind.

"I have not really decided how I am going to tell you or bring it up. It will sound a lot better when I come back. But I want you to hold on to something until I see you again ."She opened the cuff of her gloves and pulled out a charm bracelet with a C on it . Claire grabbed Wesker's right hand and closed his fingers around the bracelet with her own. " This gives me an excuse to see you again."

"Ah, I see that I am at a disadvantage because I have nothing to complete this trade" He reached into his vest and pulled out his S.T.A.R.S combat knife. "This is the only S.T.A.R.S. model with my initials on it keep it safe."

Claire grabbed his hand and led him to the riverfront and looked out into the horizon. "Even though we are separated by an entire ocean, these tokens will remind us that we will always be together."

* * *

_July 28,1998_

_I walked into the Training Facility and the smell of death assaulted my nose. It was too quiet. I clearly understood that the outbreaks were planned. The Spencer mansion at the Arklay mountains was first and now the Training Facility._

_I walked into the hall and I see a staggering figure closing the distance between us. I raised my gun and shoot the zombie between the eyes, before it was given a chance to finish its moan. I walked to a door and unlocked it with my key. My sight was greeted with the back of Birkin's head looking through the monitors of the facility._

"_So you've come." He commented without tearing his eyes from the screen._

_I ignored his comment. "How bad is it?"_

"_You said that one of the S.T.A.R.S teams is investigating the train?"_

_I did not know where he was going with this. "I did. The Bravo team is investigating the scene as we speak."_

_Birkin gave me an incredulous look. "I think you should send some Umbrella's cover up because your Bravo team is going to die."_

"_Are you saying the train is infected?"_

_An hour later , I was talking with a group of operatives, who were searching the train encountering no survivors. Seconds later , I was yelling for the soldiers to report as they were screaming and shooting at an unknown entity._

"_Damn." I cursed under my breath._

_Before Birkin and I could interact, We hear operatic singing coming from the telecom. It was a young man accusing Birkin and I for killing our mentor: Dr. Marcus. He yelled about how he wanted revenge on Umbrella and admitted to infecting the train and the facility with leeches._

* * *

"_Are you sure that young man is Dr. Marcus? The idea itself is almost-"_

"_Impossible." I answered for him. "Really, Birkin with all that you have seen does this really surprise you?" I was 99.9% sure that man was Dr. Marcus. Only Birkin, Umbrella, Dr. Marcus and myself knew what transpired that day._

"_What are you going to do now?"_

_If my life had not changed, then I would have taken the S.T.A.R.S team and use them for combat data. I did not want to burden Claire with Chris's death."It appears that Umbrella is finished. Pretty soon we all will be hunted William." Umbrella did not want any loose ends and they will gladly get rid of us. They were already showing signs that we were living on borrowed time. Birkin's deadline and my lack of information regarding Umbrella's affairs._

"_I am simply going to say goodbye to Umbrella. " I finished after deciding on the best course of action._

_I was going to go to the Spencer mansion and steal Umbrella's data and start my own company. I could have the S.T.A.R.S work as security, as I found a way to change the world._

"_That's it you are going to leave?" Birkin asked incredulously, perhaps thinking that I was loyal to the company._

"_I am going to start a new, Birkin. I could use your expertise, once I get settled after this mess."_

"_What about Claire."_

"_What about her?"_

"_Where is she now that all of this is happening?"_

"_I indirectly sent her to England hoping that she stays away from this mess."_

"_Indirectly?"_

" _I was an anonymous donor for a scholarship. I called on her behalf and funded a scholarship that should last until December."_

"_You care for her"_

"_I did not say that I cared for her. It would be really inconvenient if she died, then I lose the mentality of my best officer." I shrugged off William's declaration, as it was nothing. I did not want him to get too deep into my business._

"_It is not a sin Albert to admit that you like her. Hell, I think she likes you to. When you both realize that then I wish you both the best." Birkin had a look of genuine care on his face until he remembers something. He reached into his lab coat and pulls out a syringe. "Oh , here."_

_I am handed a syringe with pink liquid._

"_It is a prototype virus that I have been working on. It has not really been tested yet, but I think it activates if you die."_

_I nodded to Birkin not really sure when the next time I would see him again. I walked out of the facility next to the train wreck of the Eclipse. My brow started to sweat from the intense heat. I got passed the rubble when I heard, "Comrade, where do you think you are going?"_

_As soon as I heard the Russian accent, I knew it was Sergei. I continued walking without looking at him. "To my next assignment."_

"_Recovering the facility was your assignment." The Russian colonel actually sounded disappointed, but I could tell this was an act._

"_Well, as you can see there is not much saving." _

"_Your incompetence is astounding. If you had been any other person I would have taught you a lesson." Sergei took his blade and brought it across his mouth letting a little blood trickle into his mouth. He was eager for bloodshed. "However, Lord Spencer, has determined your usefulness has run out and you are to be terminated."_

"_The reason?" I knew that Umbrella was going to finish me off. Now the question was, who or what was I being replaced for._

"_We cannot have two of you running about. It is counterproductive to our plans. "_

"_Two of me?" _

"_As we speak, you are leading the S.T. A.R.S alpha team originally planned to the Spencer mansion to get combat data. It is unfortunate that you have fallen so low that we had to get someone else do your job since you are too focused on a __dziewuszka."_

_He smirked at me and threw me a copy of a picture that Claire and I had taken on New Years._

"_You should have realized that Umbrella invests in small companies so we can get information supplied to us.__We will deal with her as soon as we deal with you. Imagine her cries as I take her innocence away from her" ,Sergei had his arms spread out in the air and laughed maniacally. _

"_If you hurt her I will kill you!" I decided I would take down Umbrella if anything happened to Claire._

"_It will be hard because you will be dead. And your liberator will be Ivan ."Two alienoid looking humans stepped forward one wearing blue sunglasses and the other orange. I figured you can deal with one, but I think two of them are enough to get the job done. "__Do svidaniya ,comrade." He mocks and walks away._

_I managed to get one down by shooting a gas barrel and the blue one staggered, as I tried to run away, but it grabbed me. I reached into my pocket for the syringe Birkin gave me and I felt the stab of the needle in my arm. I knew that it was only a matter of time before I was killed. _

_I shoot the one that was holding me in the head and it dropped me. The orange one threw a gasoline barrel at me and I tried igniting it in the air, but I ran out of bullets. I did not have any extra ammo. After dodging, I pocketed my Samurai Edge knowing my options were limited. I see an open path and tried running but the Orange one was way too fast. I stopped, before I ran into the Tyrant but I feel a hand curl its fingers around my neck. I felt the tyrant behind me choking the life out me. I tried and reach for my combat knife but realized that I never replaced it. I thought of the irony that Claire would be the death of me. My vision began to blur, and I could see blue sunglasses walking calmly towards me. I saw it draw its arm back and felt a sharp pain in my chest. It threw me against a concrete wall to finish its job._

_The last thing my mind went to was Claire as the darkness hit me._

* * *

Months later, this journal will be found by a certain Claire Redfield with a note on top which reads: _Claire, It is up to you to make a real difference._

* * *

Dziewuszka- pretty girl in Russia

do svidaniya-goodbye in Russian

AN:

This chapter officially ends the prequel to this story. The rest of this story if it gets continued will be darker. To be honest there will be less fluff than the first 5 chapter. For right now this story will be labeled complete until I decided what to do with it.I could do ten more chapters appended to this story to end the first book.. It will do me a huge favor to let those who have read this to let me know what you think. You do not have to sign into to review you can flat out tell me what you hated or liked about the story so far and I can keep it into consideration (or pm if you are shy). So I can improve past chapters and I can put your suggestions into effect in future chapters. Criticism will not hurt my feelings at all. If this happens to be the end I just wanted to let you know that it has been a pleasure writing for you all.


	6. Book 1:Returning to Raccoon City

**Hi all, I finally got this chapter done! It took me a while but I had to check for a lot of grammar and I had to walk away and reread this. When I looked at my past chapters , I was slightly embarrassed because they sounded like it was written in broken English. ._. I apologize for posting them and I reedited them. They are not a hundred percent grammar free, but they are a lot better than that stuff I posted earlier**

**Although reviewing is not a requirement, constructive Criticism Reviews (both anonymous and signed) are accepted and encouraged.**

**Shoutouts ****to Admiralsarah,** **Belledarkness ,****lonelysith66****,and many of you who wanted to be anonymous for reviewing and offering me suggestions. **

**I usually write over 5,000 words per chapter. This chapter is not long, because I wanted the intro of Book 1 to be simple. **

**3,554 words for my lovely readers**

**Thank you again readers for being awesome!**

* * *

**Book 1: Raccoon City**

_September 1998_

"Sorry, this person is unable to take your call. Please leave a message after the beep." Claire sighed when she was greeted by the answering machine's beep.

"Hey, Chris. It's me again… I know you must be busy. Please give me a call whenever you can. I really want to talk to you and…" She contemplated continuing, maybe her brother would want to pick up. "I miss you." _What is going on Chris?_

She hung up the phone with a snap and gripped the phone tightly. Chris would not call. He had not called her once since he dropped her off at the airport three months ago, after ensuring she made it safely. She sat back and watched her Earl Grey tea become cold, as she was lost in thought. No one from Raccoon City had returned her calls nor made contact, not even Wesker. Three months was a longtime not being in contact with anyone from her hometown. She was going to have to cut her law internship short, because she had a gut feeling that something was seriously wrong. It was as though Raccoon City did not exist anymore.

* * *

Leon and Claire were making their way back towards Raccoon City. He picked her up at the airport, because he was driving through town anyway. The car ride was mostly silent, since he did not want to break Claire out of her thoughts thinking she was worried about her brother. He was shocked when she broke the silence.

"Leon, thank you again for picking me up at the airport. This really means a lot to me." Claire continued to look out the window. Chris would think she was insane ending her internship early. If she had stayed, she would not have been able to focus due to worrying about everyone. She wondered what she would find when she returned to Raccoon City.

"It was not a problem, since the airport was on the way. Besides, I enjoy the company." Leon replied genuinely. Driving with Claire, did beat driving eight hours by himself. He wanted to know Claire a little better and this was the perfect opportunity. "So you were in England?"

"Yes, I was participating in a law internship, but I decided to cut it short for not hearing from anyone for three months. " She saw the look of confusion on the young cop's face. "I know it sounds like I am worrying over nothing, but I have not even heard from my brother. It would put my mind at ease to make sure everyone is all right."

He debated to tell her what he had heard from his coordinating officer, but he really cared for the redhead so he thought it was better to be honest with her. "There is word that there have been strange happenings on the outskirts of Raccoon City."

"Strange happenings?"

"Strange murders occurred with an unknown killer." He replied bluntly as they pulled in front of Chris's apartment. Leon thought it odd that this neighborhood had no power. Some alarm bells started going through his head. Something was not right.

"I'll meet you back at the station. If Chris is not in his apartment, I could swing by because he might be doing paperwork." She got out of the cruiser and was ready to close the door eager to see her brother.

Leon frowned at her suggestion. He did not want her walking back if murders were taking place in the city. He put the car in park and started to unbuckle his seatbelt.

"How will you get back? I don't mind staying with you."

"Leon, I don't want you to be late on your first day on the job." He had already done so much for her by picking her up and taking her to Raccoon City. He was more reliable than her brother at the moment.

"I have my bike. "

"See you in a bit then."He replied unconvinced and gave her a pleading look to reconsider her options, but the redhead appeared unyielding in her decision. "Claire, promise me that you will be careful. If it even looks remotely dangerous come find me immediately."

When he got her assurance, he nodded and drove off.

She watched as the cop drove away before walking into Chris's apartment. She knocked and was not surprised when no one answered. As soon as she unlocked and opened the door, she sneezed because a cloud of dust greeted her nose. _That is odd_. Judging from the thick layer of dust on the countertops and table, Chris had not been here in months.

She walked up to the answer machine and saw that there were 90 messages on his caller id dating from the end of May.

Continuing her search in his room, she dug through his stuff for further clues about his whereabouts. She turned his room almost inside out but could not find anything. As she moved the flashlight, a glimmer of silver flashed in the corner of her eye. She investigated further and found an attaché case in his closet and it had the magnum she bought him for Christmas with his Samurai Edge. She grabbed a small weapon's belt from his closet and put the guns in a small backpack she got from her room. Figuring, she would return his items to him again when she saw him next.

Since she could not find Chris's passport, he must be out of the country but where? Surely, he would have told her he was leaving. Wouldn't he? Claire looked at her watch and saw that it was 7:00 pm. Some S.T.A.R.S. members did not get done until 9:00pm. If she was lucky, she could ask Jill or Wesker about Chris's whereabouts. She did not mind seeing either of them again.

She walked outside the apartment and noticed it was quiet. _Why is it so quiet_? Claire thought it odd that none of the street lamps were on. Raccoon city was quiet at night, but it was never this eerily quiet. _Time to head back to the station._

* * *

She drove downtown feeling a tad famish and she pulled into a local restaurant, Emmy's diner.

The last time she was here was when she kissed Leon, causing Wesker to storm out. Just thinking about that day brought a smile to her face.

"Hello, Is anyone here?"

The restaurant was supposed to be open, according to the operational hours posted on the door. She could not hardly see because the restaurant was dimly lit,since some of the light bulbs looked ready to go out at any moment. The restaurant looked messy and unclean .If a health inspector came by, it would get condemned. She saw a stout figure on the floor on his knees bending over something, oblivious to her presence. She was getting disturbed when she heard some slurping and tearing noises.

"So , do I sit or does someone seat me?" She watched as the man slowly turned his head toward her and staring at her. He opened his mouth and some liquid started to fall.

It was not spit because it started to stain his apron. It took Claire a second to register that it was blood. "Are you okay? " Claire could not stand it if someone was in pain, and she walked forward to try and assist the man.

The "cook" looked at her hungrily and Claire gasped when she saw that the man's eyes were completely white, and he was feasting on a man's stomach.

"Okay…" Claire was starting to freak out. "I see you don't need any help. I am sorry for disturbing your" How could she put it? "…meal." She started walking backwards to leave the vicinity, until she heard a moan behind her .

She gasped as she saw some other people act like the cook by shuffling towards her direction. _What the hell is going on? _ She did not even see them at first. She was surrounded by these crazy people, who looked like they had a chunk of their flesh torn out of them. She pushed one of these beings out of her way and stumbled towards the door and the creatures were still after her. Adrenaline started to flood her system, as she felt her heart starting to pump a hundred miles an hour."Don't come any closer." She threatened but jumped when more of these creatures were banging on the window to the diner.

She was not going that way, since she could get easily grabbed, if she stepped one foot out that door. She took her chances to go in the back of the diner through the kitchen. Most restaurants had back doors. The cook was slowly tailing her. She felt as though she was in a horror movie being chased by monsters. She heard glass break from windows from the front of the diner, and she knew that those monsters made it inside. She prayed that the door she was about to open led her outside.

"Get down!" Claire did not have to be told twice and a gun fired causing the cook behind her to fall.

"I am so happy to see you Leon." The cop grabbed her by the arm and looked at her to ensure she was alright.

Satisfied, he determined the next course of action was to get them out of danger. "Come on my car is this way." He broke into a run and Claire easily caught up with his pace.

"How did you find me?"

"Your bike was not hard to miss ."

"I figured you would have been in the precinct by now. "

"I would have but the town seemed off. I was in the area and saw a dead woman being eaten by crows. Suddenly, she got up and was joined by others like her. Almost as if …"

"Everyone was dead." Claire had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. There was no way that Chris would be dead.

"Claire, are you sure that your brother is still around?" Leon did not want Claire to be led on a merry goose chase. He wanted her to come to her senses, so they could leave this town safely.

"Something like this will not stop Chris." She replied with conviction as she tightened her fists. She wanted to believe in her heart that this was the truth.

"If you are sure, the car is not further see?" The cruiser was easily seen in the distance. They only had fifty feet to go, but the car in question was surrounded by zombies.

Leon shot some of these zombies that were surrounding the car. Claire threw a knife and it lodged itself in a zombie's head.

Leon whistled, "Where did you learn how to do that?"

"My brother, I did not think I would ever have to use it though." Leon walked over and grabbed the knife that was lodged in the zombie's head and examined the knife.

"S.T.A.R.S, a special forces issue, huh?"

Claire took it gingerly. "Yeah, it is Wesker's." _You better be alive Wesker so I can kick your inconsiderate ass._

"I am surprised you are not here to see him. Aren't you a couple?"She could hear jealousy in Leon's voice.

_I don't know about a relationship by the rate this is going. _"Our relationship is complicated. Besides if he really cared about me, he would have had the decency to call in England" She wanted to slap Wesker for being so thoughtless and did not attempt to hide the anger in her voice.

Leon looked at her sadly. She did not deserve to be treated this way. After he got Claire and himself out of the city, he would offer to take care of her.

"I think if you go this way, there is a shortcut to the department. You would only have to drive a block." She remembered Chris showing her this shortcut a long time ago.

Suddenly, bright high beam head lights obscured their vision and the approaching vehicle was quickly coming towards them, not having any intentions of slowing down.

An eighteen wheeler truck was speeding in their direction.

"Damn, is this guy going to slow down?"

"Leon, I think he is dead." She commented seeing the snarling driver.

"Claire, move!" Leon yelled at her to get away from the cruiser.

Claire's reaction was a little too slow. The truck hit the cruiser seconds later engulfing both vehicles in flames. She dodged a little too late and was caught up with the aftereffects of the explosion. Her ears started ringing and causing her vision to fog up. She had never felt so disoriented in her life and hoped she was not getting a concussion. Through her foggy vision, she could see a wall of fire from the wreckage and flaming zombies creeping slowly towards her ,while hearing Leon's disfigured yelling voice above the moans.

She thought she heard some gunshots, and the zombies that were in front of her fell. She felt herself get hoisted over a shoulder seconds later.

"A- you al-ght?" She figured Leon was trying to ask her a question, but her head started to spin causing a headache to form. The only thing she could do was nod dumbly .

Leon supported Claire and looked at the direction where the damaged vehicles were. There was no going back that way since it was being blocked by a wall fire. Their only option was to move forward.

"Maybe there is a shortcut?" Leon suggested hoping that she could offer some assistance. She maybe was more familiar with the area.

"I am fine, Leon." Leon slowly let Claire go and allowed her to walk forward. She staggered at first from the lack of equilibrium but recovered. "What do you suggest an alley or something? Wait, Kendo's gun shop is that way should be open."

They ran to the shop and it was clearly lit. Leon had his hand on the door knob holding his gun up with his free hand, while nodding to Claire to cover him. He pushed the door open and had his gun drawn, in case they were met by a zombie. Kendo greeted Claire and Leon in kind with his shotgun

"Mr. Kendo?" Claire was happy that the man was still alive.

Kendo lowered his gun and relief slowly flooded his system. It was nice to see survivors after all this time. "Sorry, you all are no zombie." He looked at the redhead for a moment and vaguely recognized the redhair. "Redfield's sister wasn't it?" Claire nodded at his observation.

"What happened to this town? Leon knew that the town had trouble but he did not think it was this bad. This was beyond his training.

The store owner went to lock the door and stood by the store's window.

"Murders happened by an unknown killer. Iron's told us to stay in doors for our own safety." He scoffed about how futile the attempt was. It was safer to leave town. "Before we knew it, the whole town was infested with zombies . I did what I could and gave away my best weapons for free when things started to get bad . I don't have any weapons left but feel free to help yourself to some ammo. It is the least I could do."

"Claire, bag please." Claire threw Leon her bag, and he began filling it with ammo. He was not sure how much they would need to get out of the town. "Is there any way to get to the police station from here?"

Kendo looked at the cop filling the bag with supplies and crossed his hands in contemplation. "If you take the back alley through this door in my shop, you can cut through the park. "

"Mr. Kendo , it would make me feel a lot better if you stand away from that window." She could not see behind it and who knows what was lurking. Like the restaurant, this glass could give at any moment. "Also, why don't you come with us?" Three people was better than two.

The Japanese American smiled at Claire's reservation, but he would not leave his home. "I invested my whole life into this shop and I will go down with it."

With some ill fated irony after his statement, the windows he was standing near shattered and a hoard of at least ten zombies surrounded him. Kendo's screams reverberated in the air but he managed to tell the duo to "Run!"Knowing at this point, he was beyond saving.

Claire was rooted to the floor in horror. The brunette grabbed her arm to lead her to the door in the back of the store. She looked at him pleadingly as she was being dragged. "Leon, we should help him! "

"We can't ,Claire. There are more of those things coming." Sure enough, there were zombies making their way into the store closing in on the pair.

Claire felt tears prickle behind her eyes because she failed to save the Japanese American. The next thing she knew, she was being pushed out the alley door.

"O my God. What are they? They were eating him." Claire leaned against the wall with her hands in her face, feeling hopeless. "Do you think they were zombies? Are we the only survivors in this city?" She tried to be strong, but she felt like she might have an emotional break down.

Leon put a comforting arm on her shoulder."Don't give up. There are other survivors." He wanted to protect the girl, who was in front him with all his being. He was going to remain strong for her.

Feeling somewhat comforted, Claire walked forward and an unpleasant smell greeted her nose. "It smells like death out here." She walked forward and saw something circling ahead. "Is that a dog?" Nothing seemed safe, if there were dead dogs running about.

The creature in question reared its ears back and ran towards them growling. The pair shot the mess out of the dog to try and put it down.

"Everyone in the nearby vicinity report to the police station. Emergency evacuation has been authorized."

"Do you hear that? " Her voice sounded hopeful. Leon maybe right.

"I told you there were other survivors." Leon smiled and hugged her. He did not want her to break down. "Do you see this?"He pointed to a gate. " This must be the park he was talking about. We don't have that much longer to go." They stopped in front of a chained fence, and there was a zombie pushing against it, trying to get out.

"Are they always this grabby? Claire could see the hunger in the zombie's eye. She could not help but feel sad of the reality that the zombie was once a person.

"They must have the hots for you." He joked to lighten the situation.

"Oh, shut up." She gave him a playful glare.

"We need to find away to remove that lock. There is an ambulance truck over there. Maybe, we can find a wire cutter and we will see your brother in no time." He smiled and winked at her.

As Leon was rummaging through the truck, Claire could not believe how calm he was. For all she knew it was the end of the world. She appreciated that he was trying to protect her. If she got out of this mess, she would repay Leon somehow. All of a sudden, the metal chain link fence flew open and three zombies were heading towards their direction.

"Leon, we have company." She warned.

Leon whipped his gun around so fast and Claire matched his stance and started firing shots. Leon used almost half a clip on one zombie before it went down . "These things, don't go down easily. " If they kept using ammo like this, they might end up running out.

"They are everywhere." She agreed.

Claire remembered that her knife seemed to work well, and Leon did kill a zombie with a bullet to the head. "Maybe ,we should aim for the head."

They aimed at the heads and sure enough the zombies went down.

"So are you enjoying your first day?"

"I never knew that everyone in my welcome party would be dead." He bantered at her humor, while they ran to the station. They could see it in clearly ahead of them.

"Come on, Leon. We need to go in from the front doors." After dodging a zombie, they closed the gate behind them and walked to the front door of the precinct.

" I am glad to see that the station is secure." She was glad that there were no zombies in this area.

"Let us take a break for now." Her partner suggested. They were overdo for a break. They needed to come up with a strategy inside to get out of the town.

Leon heard a noise behind them, but it was odd because it sounded like someone was running after them. He turned around with his gun drawn to cover Claire. Claire had her hand on the door handle ready to throw it open, until she was inturrupted.

"Claire?"

Claire tensed because she recognized the voice and she turned around to confirm her suspicion.

* * *

Who does Leon and Claire run into ?Hint, it is not Wesker.

Next: Happy Birthday, Albert Wesker? Claire and Leon eventually find the S.T.A.R.S office and what they find will defy reality.

**A/N Claire will toughen up during chapter 8. I think it seems more realistic if it happens this way.**

**I hoped you like this chapter. If you want to see something happen please let me know!**


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